


The Arcobaleno

by Fallen_Virtue09



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Adult Arcobaleno (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Magic, Contracts, Eventual Romance, F/M, Magic, Monsters, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Characters - Freeform, hints of mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29241339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Virtue09/pseuds/Fallen_Virtue09
Summary: Anastasia never lived the easy life, orphaned from birth all she has left of her original family was her pendant but life never seemed to make it easy for her. In a prejudice and magic-filled world she has to blaze her own path and learn to distinguish wrong from right. Thankfully, fate has plans to help her and it comes in the form of a coffee-addicted hitman and his friends.This is my first story, so please be kind when you comment ^.^
Relationships: Reborn/Original Female Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Contract](https://archiveofourown.org/works/798684) by [metamorcy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/metamorcy/pseuds/metamorcy). 



Harsh winds tore through the cobble streets, the full moon shining brightly against the dark skies. Through the empty roads, the silhouette of a man walking could be seen, his visage clearer in the pavement lights. Bright blonde hair, a contrast against the black shadows casted on the walls.

With long purposeful strides the man walked carefully, his arms holding a small bundle of wrapped blankets and a small fur coat. Before long the figure stood in front of a dreary building, the sign "St Angela's Orphanage" looked more terrifying than welcoming.

The man stopped by the front door, a calloused hand carefully lifting the fur hood covering soft tufts of midnight hair, porcelain chubby cheeks turned pink in the cold and eyes clenched further as the baby burrowed into his warmth. A small hand was curled into a fist while the other was gripping tightly to a pendant hanging by the infant's neck. The bottle-cap sized orange orb shone briefly in the lights before shadows covered it once more.

The man gently stroked the infant's cheek before pressing a kiss on it's forehead. "Goodbye, little princess." He murmured softly.

Straightening up, he knocked firmly on the door.

A moment later, the door clicked open and out came a middle aged woman with several strands of bright silver hair.

"What is it you want?" She questioned grumpily, her eyes bleary and set in a glare.

The man simply held out the infant in his arms. The woman's eyes soften at the child and hurriedly cradled the infant herself, tucking in the blanket securely around the child.

"Is the baby named?" She asked, choosing to ignore how the man came into possession of the child.

"Yes, her name is Anastasia. All I ask is that all her belongings today will remain her belongings until the future." He stated, more than asked.

The woman simply nodded her head sharply, "Of course, any of a child's personal belongings will remain theirs unless it was bought by the orphanage."

The man gave a short inclination of his head before he disappeared into the night. Leaving his most precious possession in another's hands hoping that one day he will be forgiven for this.

\-------------------------------

The sound of children squealing and hurried footsteps could be heard through the front doors. It was one of the only days where everybody would be bustling about.

"Adoption Day"

Children were wrestled into their best clothing had scrubbed down to perfection, if only for a few moments. The laughter and screams had immediately stopped at the sound of the large doors creaking open.

"Ah welcome, Mr Millefiore, welcome to St Angela's Orphanage."

A tall man stood by the door, his jet black hair was slicked back neatly and his suit was pressed neatly. A blonde woman stood by his side, her white gown shining much like her diamond jewelry even through the orphanages dim light. Behind her stood a young child with messy windswept black hair, he was dressed neatly as well, in black slacks and a green button-up shirt.

The family practically screamed rich, causing many of the children to glare with jealously at the child behind the woman.

"Yes I'm sure it is, Mrs...?"

The matron gave the family a simpering smile. "Cole, Mr Millefiore. Patricia Cole"

The man gave her an unimpressed look as he hummed softly under his breath. "Of course it is, _Mrs Cole_."

The matron simply smiled once more, before a soft cough from her co-worker alerted her back to the present.

"Ah, yes. The children are right this way." She stated, gesturing for the family to follow her through another set of doors.

The large worn doors opened up to a large hall where children were lined up on one side. The boys were puffing up their chest in bravado, while the girls were smiling brightly, all dressed in their best, in hopes of being picked.

"Well, here are all the children in this orphanage Mr and Mrs Millefiore. We hope that one of them takes to your liking." The matron stated, hand gesturing towards the line of children.

The mistress of the Millefiore house crouched by her son, smiling gently she spoke. "Go on then Hadrian, you will have to pick your new brother or sister."

The child simply huddled close to his mother, "Why can't you pick for me mommy?"

His mother let out a soft laugh while his father smiled fondly.

"Of course we can't pick for you son." His father stated, amused. "You'll have to decide who you'll like to be your family now. Would you like someone who would be mean to you?"

His son furrowed his eyebrows in thought, "No."

The man gave him a small pat on the head, nudging the child towards the group of children. "Well, then go see for yourself. Then once you've found your new brother or sister just come back here."

His son nodded, before he ran off outside to follow the other children.

The woman, smiled fondly as she leaned against her husband. "Do you think he'll be alright?"

Wrapping an arm around his wife the man gave a small grin. "He is our son Sophie, so something is bound to go wrong. But I believe that he'll be just fine."

The woman, Sophie, nudged her husband playfully. "As I recall you were the one who found all those troubles, I simply got dragged into it."

\-------------------------------

Hadrian trudged sadly through the grass, he hadn't liked anybody. The boys had been mean to him while the girls had been too annoying. He wondered if his mommy and daddy would be disappointed that he wasn't able to find a good sibling.

Lost in thought the small child was unaware of the small group boys trailing behind him. He did however notice, when small rocks started pelting him from behind.

"Hey rich kid!" The leader crowed.

The child turned sharply, a hand holding his throbbing head while another was clenched in a tight fist.

"What do _you_ want?" Hadrian growled out.

The head bully simply gave a short malicious smirk, which looked horrid on his pudgy face. "I want you to pick me as your new 'sibling'"

The child gave a small pout, "Why should I pick you? You threw a rock at me!"

"Because if you don't then I'll do this!"

The small group of boys began pelting rocks at the smaller child at they're leader's cue. Most of the rocks they threw fell onto the grass, however several of them managed to scrape his arms.

The younger child let out a small cry of shock as small droplets of blood ran down his arm.

"Aww, where's your rich mommy and daddy now?"

Blinking back tears, Hadrian cradled his injured arm as he took an unsteady step back. Staring fearfully at the much larger bullies he clenched his eyes shut at the sight of another thrown rock. However, the pain never came.

Slowly, green eyes peaked upwards to see a figure before him. Black hair was flowing in the sudden wind and a hand was outstretch, stopping the rock ways away from them.

"You!" The leader shouted.

"Me." The figure in front of him stated, bored.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Well, I can't just let you bully a child can I? Be mature Billy, or you'll remain pathetic forever."

The figure suddenly turned down an crouched to look at him, soon green eyes blinked at grey.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked, head tilted slightly, a small smile on her face.

Awestruck, Hadrian was unable to do anything other than to nod his head in an answer. Gripping a given hand shakily, he was pulled upwards and steadied on his feet.

Face flushing in anger, the larger boy prepared to throw yet another rock at their backs.

Grey eyes glanced behind sharply before the rock was stopped with a small flick of her wrist. The rock turned mid-air, before it shot back towards the boy who threw it, narrowly grazing the bully.

The larger boy jumped in shock, shouting out as he ran. "Freak!"

The girl glared harshly at the bully, her hands clenched tightly into a fist. Eyes dark and flashing with glimpses of pain and hurt before they closed of once more. Turning back to the child behind her, she simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

\-------------------------------

The sun was rolling down when Hadrian came running back towards the orphanage halls. His small hand holding tightly to a larger one, his grin was bright and his voice was cheery as he shouted.

"Mommy! Daddy! I found my new sister!"

His parents turned to look at their son, when they're breaths caught. There, walking calmly behind their baby boy was a girl with fair porcelain skin and waves of luscious black hair, a blood red sheen visible with the sun behind her. Soft pink lips were pulled into a soft smile as her grey eyes stared warmly at the child pulling her along.

A small chuckle roused the couple from their blatant staring. Swiveling sharply, the couple came face-to-face with an amused assistant.

"I see that you've met our resident 9 year old fallen angel." She spoke good humor lacing her voice.

"How on earth is that child still here in the orphanage with her looks?" Mrs Millefiore asked incredulously.

The assistant smiled sadly, "Well, many families have always been willing to adopt Anastasia. But sadly she was always returned to the orphanage a few days later."

The couple shared a curious glance and meant to asked, when they were interrupted by the arrival of their son. The assistant gave a small smile before excusing herself to tend to dinner.

"Mommy! Look this is Anastasia! She helped defend me from some bullies!"

The girl laughed softly before ruffling his black hair, "I can introduce myself, you know."

Hadrian grinned toothily, "But I wanna do it."

"That you did," she replied amused.

The Millefiore couple stared fondly at their interactions, noticing how quick their usually reserved son was warming up to the girl next to him.

Temporarily ignoring the excitedly bouncing child by her side. Anastasia turned to the beautiful couple in front of her, offering them a smile.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Milefiore," she greeted, "As you've heard, my name is Anastasia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The couple smiled happily at her, "It's a pleasure meeting you as well, dear." Mrs Millefiore stated warmly.

Her husband gently held a hand to her shoulder, and on automatic Anastasia tensed before forcefully relaxing herself. However judging from the glint of recognition in his brown eyes, he had noticed.

"Well then, what do you say Anastasia?" He questioned lightly. "Would you like to join our family?"

The girl tensed visibly, indirectly distancing herself from the family in front of her. "You wouldn't want me. No one does."

Mrs Millefiore frowned, "Why ever not?"

Carefully, Anastasia urged the younger child away fro her as she lifted up a small rock into the air, spinning it for a while before dropping it back to the ground.

"Because I can do that."

The girl braced herself for the rejection that was sure to come. Of the shouts of anger, and the looks of disgust. But what greeted her was a tight hug and the sounds of clapping.

"That was quite the magnificent display of magic you showed, Anastasia." Mr Millefiore praises as he stepped towards her.

Anastasia stared at him with wide eyes through his wife's embrace, "You're not...freaking out?"

"Oh, darling, no." Mrs Millefiore uttered softy as she pulled away. "What you have there is a marvelous gift and at such a young age too."

"A gift?"

Hadrian came tumbling towards her at that moment, his small arms hugging at her legs tightly.

"Yes! You're just like us!"

Anastasia stared down at him, awed and slightly confused. "Us?"

A bright light entered her vision as large glowing circles appeared on the grass by the couple's feet.

"Us, dear." Mrs Millefiore stated, smiling.

"You can do it too..." Anastasia gasped out.

Mr Millefiore nodded, "What _we_ can do is magic, Anastasia."

The girl gapped slightly, before stating softly. "But they said that only freaks can do magic."

Green eyes hardened as hands came to grip at the young girl's face. "Anastasia, you are not a 'freak'. And what you have is not something to be afraid of, it is something that you should be proud of."

Grey eyes widened at the words, and slowly tears rolled down her cheeks.

Gently, the blonde woman wiped away the tears. Speaking softly, "Welcome to the family, my new daughter."


	2. Of Schools & Meisters

~ 8 years later ~

Bright sunshine streaked through the white curtains, illuminating the figure who stirred lightly upon the large bed. Tangled raven hair filled the white pillows as slim hands clench the blue comforter higher. The figure curled tighter under the warm covers and turned, intending to head back to sleep when the large white mahogany doors slammed open.

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey sis!" 

Anastasia grumbled as she turned away from the door. "Shut up Hadrian. It's only like 7 in the morning, I have time to sleep."

The now 15 year old, stood by the door, features crossed between amusement and frustration. The small boy and long grown into a handsome teenager, standing at a tall height of 6"1 with his father's features. His green eyes were darker and his hair was styled into a 'windswept' look, even from afar Anastasia was able to see why girls went crazy after him.

"Normal people are usually up by 7 in the morning you know." He stated deadpan, as he took in the sight of stacked books on her desk, hinting at what kept his sister up all night. 

"Well, I'm not normal." She mumbled, "Now go away and let me sleep."

Hadrian frowned momentarily before a sly grin crossed his face. "Well, that's too bad. I guess, I'll just have to finish your share of eggs benedict.

The teen had never seen his sister shot up any faster, internally he wondered if it had hurt. 

"Did you just say, eggs benedict?" She asked, a gleam in her wide eyes.

Hadrian nodded, and watched as his sister gave a small happy cheer, shouted a "Be out in 5!" and slammed the bathroom door shut on him.

Chuckling, he leaned on the door knowing that his sister meant good on her words. She really would be out in 5 minutes. Slowly he observed her room, initially his parents had no idea on what room would suit her and decided on allowing her to design the room according to what she wanted. He had watched as the white room exploded with colours, the ceiling was painted like the night sky with glittering stars covering the entire expanse

The walls were painted a soft ice blue with a darker blue lining it. Her white mahogany bed was pushed to the center with two nightstands beside it. A small black sofa with blue pillows was placed in front of the bed, along with a glass coffee table. A dark blue carpet was under it, reaching all the way to the bed covering the white marble floors. A red mahogany desk was pushed to the right along with a white high-back rolling chair and several bookshelves of the same wood. Her bathroom and closet was off to the left, near the large window that had seatings that matched her bed, done in cream.

The soft click of the door drew his attention to his sister, who stood by the open bathroom door dressed in a comfy pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt. Her long black hair was held in a loose bun as several strands framed her face.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" She asked, urging him out the door. "Breakfast is waiting."

Hadrian simply rolled his eyes, "Who was the one who didn't wanna wake up, hmm?"

A small smack to the back of his head was the only thing he received for his comment.

\-------------------------------

"So?" Anastasia began as she sipped softly at her tea. "Who wants to start first?"

Hadrian froze like a deer in headlights, but her parents simply continued to eat their breakfast. Being of a noble family does have it's perks, a good front mask seemed to be one of them.

"Start what dear?" Her mother questioned as she lightly buttered her toast.

Anastasia gave her an unimpressed look, "Really? I _know_ you guys by now. There's no way at all this," she stated, gesturing at the rather lavish breakfast they were having. "Is a coincidence. So spill."

Her father let out a low chuckle, "We never could successfully hide anything from you since your teenage years."

Anastasia gave a small grin, "Well, I learnt from the best."

Her father aimed a teasing glare at her brother, "Now, if only your brother could too."

Said teen was busy stuffing his own Eggs Benedict, even as he glared lightly. "I can do just well, thank you very much."

Their mother shot him a disgusted look, "Chew before you speak Hadrian, it's not polite."

Her brother pointed chewed and swallowed his bite before aiming a meaningful glance to his mother who simply nodded in approval.

"So?" Anastasia prodded, "What's going on?"

Her mother glanced quickly at her father, before resigning herself to answer the question. "Well, how do you feel about joining the Academy soon?"

"How soon is soon?" Anastasia questioned uneasily.

"Next week," her father stated. "And not a day more."

Paling, her voice shook as she spoke. "Why the sudden interest in my studies? Are the tutors saying that I'm not doing well?"

Her mother laughed lightly, batting her hand in a small motion. "No, nothing like that. In fact, they haven't stopped praising you since they first started."

"Then why the sudden change?"

This time her father was the one to answer her. "Because all this is wasting your magic potential. Simply learning theory isn't going to help you with casting the magic."

Anastasia's brow furrowed in slight indignation. "I can cast magic even right now."

"But you can't create a contract can't you?" Her father sharply retorted.

Anastasia tensed sharply, she had always heard of how her brother had managed to contract a Mioddiavion.

A Mioddiavion, Miods for short, is what humans call the demons of the ShadowVales, a universe interconnected to the Earth. Those with magic are often sent to magic academies just so that the would be able to learn and one day travel to the ShadowVales and create a contract with a Mioddiavion.

To become a fully-fledged Meister.

And now her brother was one. And here she was, forever stuck to simply watch from the sidelines. For only those with noble blood were allowed to create contracts. And she? Well she was nobody.

"You know the reason why I can't create a contract." Anastasia spoke,through clenched teeth.

"And now I'm saying you can."

Her head snapped up sharply, "But I can't! I'm not like you, or him." She shouted, pointing at Hadrian who glanced at her with surprised eyes. "I'm not of 'noble blood' and I'm tired of hoping for something that can never happen no matter how much I wish for it!"

Frustrated, she stood and rushed out the room leaving the door open in her anger.

\-------------------------------

Anastasia groaned as she laid on her bed. Having had time to cool down and rethink about what had happened during breakfast, the girl was seriously regretting having exploded. But even they couldn't change the rules. Not without risking something equally or even more-so important.

A sharp knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Have you cooled down enough?" Her brother questioned from beyond the door.

"Yeah, I'm good now."

Seconds later, the door clicked opened and shut softy. Padded footsteps sounded against the marble floor as her brother moved towards her. Flopping down on the bed, he sat crossed-leg on the blue bedding. "So, what's up?" 

"The ceiling." She retorted, huffing.

He stared at her deadpanned, "You know that's not what I meant."

Giving a small tired sigh, he turned to look at her squarely. "Seriously, what's up with you? Normally, the you, I know would be ecstatic to go into the institute."

Anastasia gave a humorless chuckle, "Yeah, well I faced reality."

Laying down, her grey eyes stared up at the make-shift night sky. "Do you remember all those grand parties that mom and dad would throw every once in awhile?"

She waited for her brother to nod in reply before continuing. "Remember how I'd always make up excuses not to go? That I had homework or that I hated dressing up for it? Well that was never the reason."

"Then what was?"

"It was because I never felt like I belonged." She stated surely,"No matter how nicely I was dressed, or how politely I behaved, I never belonged there."

She turned her gaze to her surprisingly silent brother. "That doesn't count you or mom and dad. But the rest of the guest... Well they would look at me, some with pity in their eyes and others simply with disdain. Back then, I didn't know what I did wrong. But now...now I know."

"To them, I was simply the poor child that the Millefiore family picked up. I will never be one of them."

"Well, to hell with what they think?"

Grey eyes snapped open as Anastasia sat up on her bed. There by her open door was her father, his arms crossed and a small cream envelope in his hand.

"Dad? You heard that?"

Her father gave her a stern nod, holding out the envelope for her once she was in reached. 

"Open it."

Confused, she hurriedly took the given envelope and scanned through it.Mumbling softly under her breathe, "You are hereby accepted to The Fortuna Institute of Magic!?"

"I am what?!" She screamed aloud, "But they only accept the elite of the Elites!?"

"And your an elite." Her father replied sternly, patting at her hair softly. "You deserve to be there, noble blood or not."

Touched, Anastasia could not help but smile tearfully. "But how did you get me in?"

Her father gave a small secretive smile, "Let's just say that I made a bet that I fully intend to win."

With a final pat on her head, her father left. Calling over his shoulder that her schooling would start next week. For a long time all she could do was stare at the acceptance letter in her hands. Before a shake on her shoulders had her face splitting into a grin.

"You're going in the Institute!" Her brother yelled at her, a large smile on his own face.

"I know!" She practically screamed back at him.

"You're going to be able to do contracts!"

"I know!"

"Oh my God, this is awesome!" He screamed, shaking her even harder.

For several minutes, they both were simply grinning at each other. Her hands clutched the letter hardly, nearly crumpling the parchment.

Grey stared into a green as they spoke their own goodbye.

"See you next week, at the institute."


	3. The Fortuna Institute of Magic

"So, this is the Fortuna Institute of Magic huh?" Anastasia commented, as she placed her luggage down. "Well, it sure does look grand."

Covering almost three-quarters of a large hill, the school indeed looked much like a castle. It's large design certainly solidified it's image, with 3 separate buildings for academics interconnected by one main building. The institute certainly looked like somewhere people could easily get lost in.

"Well then, I bid you a good year young miss."

Turning around, the girl gave the old chauffeur a fond and thankful smile. "Thank you Alex, have a safe trip home."

With a final bow, the man sharply got in the car and drove of. Heaving a sigh, Anastasia pointed sharply at her luggage before muttering a small spell. Within moments her trunks were being lifted by an invisible breeze, trailing after her as moved towards the school.

Standing by the main gate, she muttered softly to herself. "Now, which way was it to the principal's office again?"

\-------------------------------

Hadrian tapped at his desk impatiently, his green eyes trailed on the large clock. Despite the teacher's glares, his face remained impassive, he had more important matters to think about other than how to properly summon objects.

Besides, he probably could do it in his sleep and if he couldn't he'd simply ask his sister to teach him. 

And that brought his thoughts back on the time. She was scheduled to arrive today! He never did understood why she had to wait for a week before joining the institute. But seeing that his sister had no problems about it, he thought that it wasn't too big of a deal.

The shrill _'krings'_ of the bell, sharply pierced through his thoughts. Hastily shoving his books into his bag he practically leaped out of the class. Racing down the hallways and towards the main gate area.

"Where are you going Hadrian?!" A group of girls screamed in his direction as he rushed past them.

"To greet someone special!"

\-------------------------------

Anastasia gave a pleased hum as she kept her eyes on the paper clutched in her hands. Slowly scanning the map that she was given, Anastasia began to make her way towards the institute's main grounds.

The principal had gave her all the necessary information that she would need, her trunks had also been taken to the dorms for her. She was also given the day to familiarize herself with the building before classes tomorrow. He seemed rather amused at seeing her, and Anastasia would bet her entire room that he knew her habits of getting lost despite only meeting her today.

Currently, due to the map held in her hands, she was having no problems navigating through the massive halls. However, she wasn't sure how she would be able to find her way to classes tomorrow without it.

Too engrossed in the map, Anastasia was completely unaware that she was heading straight for another student. The two collided with a soft 'oomph' from the girl, and grey eyes shut to brace for the fall. However when the impact never came, Anastasia began to slowly open her eyes once more. 

Blinking, Anastasia found herself staring into warm sea-green. Warm hands were on her back to help keep her off the ground while her own hands were clutched tightly on broad shoulders, the map crumpled against fabric. Slowly, both of them seemed to come to a realization and hurried to untangle themselves.

"Are you okay?" The boy questioned, genuine concern in his eyes.

"Ah, yes. I'm fine, thank you." Anastasia replied, blushing lightly in embarrassment.

"You really should watch where you're going next time. Other people might not be as kind as I was just now." He stated cockily, a smirk on his face.

Rolling her grey eyes, Anastasia mentally sighed. 'And here I was thinking that he wouldn't be half-bad.'

"Well, there goes my thanks. See you around, not." She stated, moving to pass by him and continue to head towards the main grounds.

A hand however stopped her progress once she was side-by-side with the boy.

"You're just gonna leave without a goodbye?"

Raising an eyebrow skeptically, she silently questioned the mentality of the boy she just met. 

"I don't even know you."

The teen gave her a sly grin, his messy dark locks falling slightly onto his eyes. "Well, I'm Theodore Morton and you can get to know me. In any way you want."

Anastasia flushed red, her eyes wide with disbelief even as she retorted."Do you try this with every girl you meet?"

"Nope. You're just special." He stated, grinning madly.

"Wow, I feel honored." She snarked back, tugging lightly at her captured hand.

The other teen, gave her a slow grin. "Wow, such sass from such a small body."

"Excuse me, I'm of a perfectly reasonable height." Anastasia huffed out, peeved. " _You're_ the one who's a giant."

Laughing, he continued to keep a grip on her wrist. "No, but seriously. Who are you? I've never seen you around before."

The girl opened her mouth to respond, when the sound of footsteps coming towards them echoed through the halls. Letting out a light groan, Anastasia hurriedly shook away the now lax-grip on her wrist and pushed the boy away from her.

The other teen stared at her confused, "Wha—"

He was however, rather rudely cut off as Hadrian came barreling down towards them. Once the teen was close, Anastasia took a step backwards and held a foot out. The younger teen, as expected, stumbled and crashed against the wall. There was silence for a few minutes before a loud whining sounded.

"You're so mean, sis." The boy whined as he stood up, hand slowly massaging his head.

Anastasia simply gave him a pointed look, "I told you never to do that, you never listened."

The boy pouted, "But I only wanted to greet you." Before he winced at the pounding in his head, "And now I have a headache."

The older sibling gave a tired sigh before beckoning the other teen to her. Hadrian bounced his way to her, plowing through all the incredulous stares he received for it. Once he was standing right in front her, he bent down slightly and grinned cheekily at the annoyed look he received. Rolling her eyes at his antics, Anastasia simply concentrated on her palm. Allowing her signature orange glow to envelope the appendage before placing it on her brother's head.

Making a mental note of all the stunned gasp that she received for the display, Anastasia swiftly withdrew her hand once she deemed her brother sufficiently healed.

Undisturbed, her brother simply patted at his head to test for damages. When he felt no pain, he grinned brightly before lifting his elder sibling in a hug, spinning her wildly as he did. "Thanks!"

The girl protested vehemently, hitting his back as he spun her around. However soon, she was also laughing in tandem with the other teen. "Okay, okay, you're happy, I get it. Now put me down please." 

The boy 'boo-ed' at her but he did eventually placed her down. Straightening her rumpled skirt and hair, she finally took note of the rather large crowd around her. Blushing slightly in embarrassment, she turned to her grinning sibling and lightly smacked him on the arm.

"See, what you did now!?"

Hadrian gave her an innocent look, green eyes wide in fake surprise. "What are you blaming me for? You were the one who did magic!"

"That's because you said that you had a headache!"

Their squabble was momentarily halted as the black-haired teen who had helped her earlier approached. His stance was confident, yet his eyes were confused and just a bit angered.

"Wait, you know Millefiore?" He asked, directing the question to her.

Anastasia could feel her brother tensing by her side, and her confusion rose as his arm rested firmly on her shoulder; dragging her towards him.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that Morton?" Her brother stated, his stance defensive. 

The other teen simply sneered at him, "And here I thought that at least someone would be spared from the Millefiore curse."

Anastasia frowned minutely, pushing herself forwards yet within reach of her brother. "What Millefiore curse?"

Morton, stared at her, shocked. "You don't know?" Her glare seemed to make up his mind for he continued. "Well, it's no secret that the Millefiore family is powerful and prestigious. Earning it's reputation from being one of the oldest family who is filled with powerful Meisters. However, lately there have been rumours that the family's next successor isn't even of Millefiore blood."

Shocked and horrified gasps littered the hall at the statement. However Anastasia's shocked brain could barely comprehend the sounds.

_'What?_ What did he just say? A successor not of Millefiore blood? Is he saying that her father had made it so that she was heiress of the Millefiore family? _Her_ _!?_ '

Her internal screaming were sharply cut off as she felt another's hand squeezing hers. Blinking, Anastasia stared at the teen in front of her who gave her a small reassuring smile.

"C'mon new girl, instead of going with that _disgrace_ behind you. How about you go with me? I'll help you to join the right crowd."

Rage bubbled within her at his words, and the girl tried to stop herself from trembling but the presence of her brother behind her didn't help much. Neither did the feeling of clenched fist against her shoulder. 

Sucking in a calming breath, the raven-haired girl aimed murderous grey eyes at the teen in front of her. Her grey eyes burning with righteous fury. "You disgust me." She whispered, the soft words echoing through the suddenly silent halls.

"Honestly, are all of you deaf? Didn't you even hear what Hadrian called me?" Anastasia glared, grey eyes cold. "You go on and on about scandals and being disgraces, when you're own record isn't squeaky clean. Isn't it, heir Morton?"

Blatantly sneering at the shocked boy, Anastasia wrenched her wrist free of the now lax grip. She lightly rubbed at the now bruised wrist, glaring at the crowd and the teen in front of her.

In a soft deadly whisper, she spoke. "Listen here all of you, if you think that _noble blood_ is what matters most, then you're dead wrong. What matters is your magic and how good you are at handling it."

Tugging at her amused brother who had begun making faces at the crowd, Anastasia turned to walk away. Reaching halfway she paused, stating confidently over her shoulder as she raised a palm, carefully igniting a small fireball on it. 

"And I'm damn good at it."


	4. Fitting In

"Man, that was awesome!" Her brother cheered as he flopped down onto her bed.

Anastasia grinned wryly at him as she unpacked her clothes. "I'm glad _someone_ found it entertaining."

Her brother grinned brightly at her from his spot on her bed, "Well, what do you expect me to say!? You kicked their butts!" 

"And here I as hoping that I could go through school without being noticed." The girl sighed sadly.

"Pfft, you're kidding right? I thought that you would know by now that it would never happen."

Anastasia huffed, "Well, I could hope."

"People aren't that nice." Her brother stated, voice uncharacteristically serious. "They could say that they're there for you, or that you could trust them. Maybe even that they're your friend, but one way or another they'll hurt you."

Anastasia smiled sadly at him, she had learnt the hard way; over and over again, just how true those words were. 

Gently, she ruffled his dark hair. "When did you get so mature?" 

Her brother smiled softly at her, "Well, someone needs to look out for you. The same way you looked out for me."

In the stillness of that room, the two simply laid next to each other. A hand clasped together as if afraid that the other would vanish. For now everything in the world was fine.

\-------------------------------

Anastasia clutched her book towards her chest, trying to ignore the looks and whispers aimed at her. Tears threatened to spill out, but she would not give them the satisfaction. This wasn't something she was unfamiliar with, the cold looks and apathetic gazes were simply a part of her now. She had long learned on how to ignore them, but on some days it really hit hard how unlikeable she apparently was.

She simply hoped that her brother would never go through what she did. Would never feel the feeling of being alone amongst a crowd or lay on his bed late at night and wonder what went wrong.

Lost in her memories the girl was unaware that she had managed to wander her way towards the academy's gardens. Relieved at the lack of human presence, she simply settled down on top of a stone bench. A sharp 'caw' brought her attention to a black crow who stood perched upon the bench.

Blinking her grey eyes in surprise, Anastasia carefully reached a hand towards the rather large bird. It's black eyes stared at her, judging and assessing before it finally nuzzled itself against her palm. Smiling softly at the bird Anastasia carefully held it before placing it on her lap.

"Now, how did you get here?" She whispered softly as she stroked it's soft feathers. The crow gave a small caw in reply as it relaxed in her hold.

"Where are your friends? Or are you alone like me too?" She questioned, despite the fact that she knew it could not respond. "Well, that mustn't be it. Because you are absolutely gorgeous." 

Anastasia giggled slightly at how the bird seemed to preen at her comment. Fluffing it's inky feathers, and cocking it's head proudly.

"Sometimes I wish that people weren't so mean, that I could care less what they think or say about me. Sadly life doesn't work that way." She muttered towards the raven as she continued to pet it. 

The soft ringing of a far away bell, snapped her out of her melancholy. Carefully she settled the large bird back down on the stone bench, stroking it a final time.

"Bye-bye little bird, I hope you get home soon. Thank you for listening to my ramblings." Anastasia spoke softly as she left a small handful of nuts for it. 

As she left, books clutched in one hand, she had failed to notice how the bird's black eyes gleamed. Or the angry wisps of shadows that surrounded the creature before swallowing it up whole. 

\-------------------------------

Anastasia stepped softly atop the soft blue grass, her grey eyes taking in the, now, familiar scene. Black leaves were flowing in the breeze as the purple sky was streaked with soft pink. 

The teen let out a tired sigh, it had been weeks since her first visit to the ShadowVales. Several months had passed since her enrollment into the Fortuna Institute and she had yet made a single contract. She knew how bad it would look for her family, for her brother, for everything she cared about. And yet, nothing could change it.

Allowing her feet to take her to a small hill she had found accidentally on her first few trips to this world the girl simply sat on the grass her back leaning against a boulder. Lifting her head, Anastasia stared on ahead, watching as the lavender sky turned to a soft pink, signifying the change from evening to night.

The shift in the air brought her attention to her surroundings, and the crunch of grass simply solidified her assumptions. 

"...What do you people want?" 

The group behind her 'tsked' derisively, "Turns out your skills aren't just for show aren't they?"

Anastasia tilted her head slightly to stare at them, her eyes cold. "Wanna find out?"

The leader of the sudden group; a rather large boy, the stereotype bully, flinched backwards at the gaze. However, he seemed to have minutely regained his nerves at his friends prodding's. Shakily, the teen let a disgusting smirk cross his face.

"You'll regret ever saying that, you _witch_. Come Vital!"

Grey eyes widened in alarm, as the creature took shape. The demons of Shadowvale were different, some looked human, others like monsters, and there were those that looked like they had came right out of a fairy tale. It's an amazing sight, as long as they weren't trying to kill you.

Cursing softy under her breath, she whispered a soft spell and flew off. Yells and shouts sounded behind her, but she paid them no mind. Anastasia might be cocky but she was also quite smart, she knew that regular magic was no match for a contracted Mioddiavion. The best plan she had was to evade it enough to tire it out. 

\-------------------------------

Anastasia huffed tiredly as she stepped on the ground. Her body littered with bleeding cuts, stinging slightly at every move she made. Gritting her teeth, she clamped a hand around a harshly bleeding wound on her arm.

She really wished that one day would go by without anybody picking a fight with her. Slumping against a tree trunk, Anastasia let out puffs of warm breath.

A loud crash nearby drew a groan from the tired teen. "That thing doesn't give up doesn't it?" She muttered annoyance lacing her tone.

Gripping at a branch above her, Anastasia held on to it as she steadied herself. Wincing, the girl tried to steady herself on unsteady legs. 'Damn, must have twisted my ankle somehow.'

A loud growl snapped her eyes upwards, and towards the slowly approaching creature. "You really don't want to do this," the girl warned. 

"My master desires for you to be punished. I will fulfill it. I wonder how much I can tear off of your human body in order to satisfy my Meister." It spoke, voice raspy.

"Ugh, sometimes. I hate how loyal Mioddiavions can be to their Meisters" Anastasia lamented as she took on a 'flight' stance.

The creature let out a malevolent smirk before it leap towards her. 

_Bang!_

Anastasia flinched at the abrupt sound, ears ringing at the intensity and blinked her eyes in shock. The girl watched as the creature before her screamed in agony, a large gaping hoping in the center of its chest. Grey eyes widened at the sight, watching as thick droplets of blood flowed from the open wound before the body began to dissolve into flakes of ash.

"...What just happened?" Anastasia muttered softly, as she took in the sight of the dark ashes flowing in the wind.

A dark voice chuckled, "You really should be more careful _Princess_."

The girl twisted left and right, "Who's there!?" 

The voice chuckled once more before a sharp rustling of leaves sounded from behind her. Anastasia turned sharply in time to see the creature, no, _person_ before her. The young man seemed to blend with the shadows of her surrounding, dressed in a crisp black suit. Anastasia took notice of the black yellow-striped fedora on top of a mass of spiky black hair that was peeking out from underneath. Dark, stone hard eyes bore at her and next to them were curly sideburns that bounced slightly as the person stepped closer. Although the man was especially handsome, he radiated a strong dangerous aura that warded people off him.

"Chaos." 

Anastasia narrowed her eyes at him, "You're a Mioddiavion." 

"Well, well, well. The princess is smart after all." He drawled, tilting his fedora to cover his eyes.

"My name is Anastasia." She bit out angrily.

"And that changes what exactly?" 

Anastasia scowled, "Then stop calling me princess, I am NOT a princess."

The man simply smirked, "I'm not so sure about that, _princess_." 

"Ughh," Anastasia groaned aloud, "Are all Mioddiavions as annoying as you are? Cause if so I'd rather _not_ have a contract." 

"I'm called Reborn."

Anastasia let out a soft tired smile, anger forgotten as exhaustion settled in her bones. "Well, it's nice to meet you Reborn and thank you for helping me."

Reborn took a few steps until he stood in front of the girl, dark eyes observing her movements. His eyes seemed to take in every scar and wound that littered her visible features. Anastasia fidgeted where she stood, uncomfortable with how his dark eyes seemed to scrutinize her form. 

"Well, as much as I'm thankful for your help, I really should be getting back now." She stated, moving to head towards the meeting spot.

Anastasia winced slightly at the jolt of pain that she felt as she continued to put pressure on her injured foot. Not a moment later, she was up in the air. Anastasia squealed slightly as she kicked her legs in surprise, hands clasping at the closest support she could find; which turned out to be Reborn's shoulders.

"What are you doing!?" Anastasia nearly shrieked, even as the older man winced. 

"Helping you. Again." He replied with a knowing smirk on his face.

"I don't need your help," she muttered defensively.

The fedora-clad man simply arched an eyebrow and poked at her ankle harshly. The girl hissed in pain, hands clutching tightly at his shoulders causing wrinkles to appear on the previously neat suit.

"Yes, you obviously _don't_ need my help." 

Anastasia scowled up at the older teen holding her, "...What do you want from helping me?"

Dark eyes stared down at her confused yet suspicious gaze, "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Anastasia repeated incredulously. 

"Nothing." He confirmed. 'At least right now,' he added silently.

"Now, rest because you're going to need it."

Anastasia stared at him for a long while, her grey eyes staring into his black ones. After a few minutes her features lightened and although she didn't seem any less suspicious she did settle down to rest. Before long she was asleep in the hold, head resting against his right shoulder and hands clutched on her lap. 

Clutching the sleeping girl closer, Reborn couldn't help but smirk, it seems that things were about to get interesting. He couldn't wait to see how the others would react to his little discovery.


	5. A Knight in Dark Armor

"For the last time, I'm fine Hadrian!" Anastasia nearly screamed out in frustration. "I got back safely and the wounds are already healed. You really don't need to follow me around classes."

The girl turned to look at her brother who simply shot her a pleading look, "Please sis, I don't even know who helped you or how you got that feather. At least let me accompany you here until you get a contract of your own."

Anastasia fiddled with the necklace that constantly hung around her neck on reflex, for there dangling next to the usual orange orb was a gleaming black feather. Absentmindedly, her fingers stroked softly at the black feather, she had her own suspicions of just who had given her the item. She was however simply wearily of telling her brother, for she had no guarantee what he would do if she told him. Knowing her brother, he would simply charge head first and try to find the person.

Anastasia shook her head in thought, "It doesn't matter now Hadrian, I'm fine and I'm right here. I'll be fine with or without a contract of my own."

Her brother sighed tiredly, running his hand through his hair. "Fine, I'll try to not hover so much." He stated at last, Anastasia cheered lightly, bouncing slightly on her toes.

" _But_ ," he added staring at her solemnly. "If you ever get in trouble again, I will step in."

Anastasia grinned at him as she stood on her toes to ruffle his hair before walking off to her next class. "That's my line! And stop being so tall!"

"It's just you're fault that your so short!" Her brother yelled back at her as he tried to fix his hair.

\-------------------------------

"Dad said that the Institute's library is one of the best there is, so that book must be here." Anastasia muttered softly as she prowled through the thick shelves of books.

Grey eyes scanning each book it laid on in hopes of finding the one she needed. Anastasia had spent all of her free time after the incident pouring over every book on Miaddiavions she could lay her hands on. However, nothing came up, there seemed to be no information on Reborn.

That narrowed down her search significantly, seeing as general books on Mioddiavions seemed to hold no information. There seemed to be only two options left.

1\. He was lying about being a Mioddiavion (which seemed highly unlikely because how else could he defeat the opponent's Miod that easily).

2\. He was a high class Mioddiavion who few have seen or even met.

Either way, she was going to find out who he was. If only to satisfy her curiosity.

Anastasia's grey eye lit up as she saw what she was looking for. "There it is, Mioddiavions Legends," she whispered softly as she reached out to grab the book.

"Ugh, why does it have to be so high up?" She complained, stretching out further in hope of reaching the worn leather-bound book.

Suddenly a pale hand reached out beside hers, easily grasping the book before lowering it. Anastasia turned to demand the book, because she _had_ reached for it first when she found it thrusted in her direction.

Blinking her eyes as she gripped the book steadily, she slowly tilted her head upwards to stare at the teen in front of her.

"Here," he stated, violet eyes calm. "You wanted this book right?"

"Yeah, it's this one." Anastasia replied stunned, "Thanks."

The teen nodded, silver bangs brushing slightly against his forehead as he did, before turning away.

Anastasia stood there for a minute as she watched the... stranger disappear around a corner.

'Is this school entirely filled with weird people?' She wondered internally, before she shook off her thoughts. Heading towards a comfy red armchair nearby, the girl settled in before beginning to read.

Halfway into the book, she had realized that it seemed to be as useless as the other books had been. Letting out a tired sigh, she flipped forwards towards the contents, in hopes of finding a topic that she was at least unfamiliar with, when her eyes caught on a chapter.

" _The Arcobaleno_ " Anastasia uttered softly, frowning slightly. The teen began flipping through the pages, before her eyes lit up as she took in the written paragraphs.

"Legend states that within ShadowVales lived a group of Mioddiavions called the Arcobaleno. Not many humans knew of their existence but we are all well-aware of their reputation of being unbeatable." She read aloud, finger tracing the words as she did. "Their powers seems to out rival even the highest class Mioddiavions and one known thing is that they are composed of 7 different Mioddiavions all hailing from the different elements."

The sharp _'tring'_ of the bell snapped Anastasia out of her reading. Hurriedly, the girl folded a small part of the page to act as a bookmark, before she began to lightly jog out of the library.

Unknown to her, a figure began to approach her seat as she left. Pale hands lifted the book, before turning the page to where it was dog-eared. Violet eyes glimmered briefly at the sight of that specific page.

"Now, what would a human want with us?"

\-------------------------------

A small buzz sounded through the silent hill before Anastasia's form appeared on the blue grass. A black backpack was slung on her shoulders, while a hand held on to a thermos.

"Ah, I am so glad that today is finally coming to an end." Anastasia sighed out tiredly.

Slipping of the bag to rest on the blue grass, the girl settled herself against the tree trunk. Anastasia closed her eyes briefly, before she began rummaging through the bag. The feeling of being watched, prickled her skin and carefully the girl took in her surroundings. When she noticed the slowly closing in tiger-like creatures.

"Ugh, will they ever give it a rest." Anastasia moaned as she stood up, dusting her skirt as she did.

Apparently it was all for naught. For as soon as the creatures began to pounce, a screeched sounded through the area. A black mass slammed into the beast, shoving it away from her. Large wings flapped wildly and the wind around them grew strong.

Anastasia watched through nearly-clenched shut eyes as the massive bird-like creature struck the tiger with it's talons. Droplets of blood splattered into the grass as it's flesh was torn. The tiger screamed as it tried to strike back at the creature, which the bird easily avoided as it flew higher.

Looking over at the bird, Anastasia narrowed her eyes at the sight. There was nothing but darkness misting from it's feathers, no specks of white or colour. 'Could it be a darkness element?' She thought to herself, 'It's rareness could be an explanation for it's power.'

Suddenly, a dark vapor radiated off the bird, seeming to blend in with the feathers and when those large wings flapped, a strong gust of wind tore through the trees. Yellow eyes glowed as the bird peered down at it's enemy and crowed.

In sharp measured movements, the bird struck once more, ripping the beast apart. The larger beast roared in rage before it was immediately silenced with a sharp swipe of wing. As the creature fell to the ground with a loud 'thud', the bird—which was now looking like a large crow—continued to fly, misting in the air before turning towards Anastasia.

The girl, simply stared in confusion, her head tilting to the side slightly. Before a small spark of recognition lit her eyes, rolling her eyes lightly, she made her way back towards the tree she was previously settled upon.

When the bird continued to remain in place, she called out over her shoulder. "I know it's you Reborn."

The bird screeched, causing the girl to wince briefly before a voice came out from the feathery darkness. 

"How did you...?" 

"Knew it was you?" Anastasia finished as she settled herself by the trunk once more. "Well, I'm not sure of that myself but I have to say that form of yours is quite neat."

Slowly, the darkness began to fade away leaving behind Reborn's humanoid form, black feathers fluttering around him. He flew down until his feet touched the ground, his dark eyes stared straight into grey as he tilted his fedora downwards.

"You aren't...afraid?"

Anastasia shot him a confused look, "Why should I be?"

This time it was Reborn who shot her a confused—albeit well hidden—look. "Because I can kill you and quite easily at that?"

Anastasia hummed to herself, "If you wanted to you would have done it last time. And yet you didn't."

The raven raised an eyebrow at that, watching as the teen simply continued to rummage through her bag with one hand. However, he couldn't help but question, "Don't you have any questions for me?"

Anastasia smiled slightly at that, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm not going to force you, everyone is entitled to having some secrets." The girl stared down at her hands, in thoughts of her own secrets before she sighed at the disbelieving look the raven shot her. "Of course, I'm curious. But if you don't _want_ to say anything then I won't make you."

Reborn watched as the girl made a small sound of triumph before she dug out 2 lunch boxes.

"Well, are you just gonna stand there?"

The raven huffed, but he did settle down on the grass across the teen. His dark eyes widened slightly in surprise when a box was thrusted his way.

"Here," Anastasia stated as she held her hand out. "I made too much anyways."

When the raven made no movements to take it, the teen rolled her eyes in exasperation before simply dropping it into his lap.

Reborn stared at the box as if waiting for it to explode. "One would think that a person would freak when finding out that the person they had been talking and sitting next with was a monster."

Anastasia shot him a dry look, "You? A monster? _Really?_ I never saw that coming."

A sharp flick on her forehead was what she got in response to the sarcastic remark. And Reborn smirked victoriously as he watched the other rub at her forehead lightly. His thoughts, however, where running wildly, conflicted whether or not he should tell the other about him.

"Well, as you may have noticed, my other form is a raven and my element is darkness." Reborn announced, quickly gaining back the noirette's attention. "It's not common knowledge, but those with two forms are considered extremely powerful individuals. There aren't very many however."

Anastasia kept quiet, her mind whirling with questions as she continued to listen to every word. 'So that's why I wasn't able to find any information about him.'

"My friends, well more like colleagues, are all like me. Powerful individuals... Well, most of them are." Reborn huffed, before suddenly flexing his arms as if stretching. Whenever he transformed, he always felt the need to stretch repeatedly afterwards. It was a habit he couldn't get rid of.

"I think it's pretty cool."

The raven chuckled in amusement, "I think you're the only one who thinks that way. Most fear it, Collonello—one of my colleagues— thinks that my other form looks like something out of a horror movie."

"But it's still pretty cool and it's actually really pretty too." Anastasia stated, as she began to take small bites of her lunch.

"You're an idiot."

"Uhuh, and just yesterday you were saying about how smart I was." Anastasia drawled before shaking her head in fond exasperation. "Seriously, just drop it. You won't change my mind about your form, so how about you just enjoy the lunch before I need to go back."

The raven stared at her for a long time before he began to open the box. "You are one odd human."

Anastasia shrugged, "I've been called worse."

Shaking his head, Reborn began to poke his fork through a piece of ravioli. Staring at it, he gave a barely noticeable shrug before chewing the piece. His eyes widened slightly before he started on another piece, quicker than previously. "This is good, really good."

Anastasia blushed slight at the compliment. "Thanks, I've always had a knack for cooking. Never got to do it much though."

The older teen smirked slightly at the rare sight, the girl looked much more feminine with a blush on her face. It was quite the rare sight.

His thoughts were cut off, when the other gave him an offer of coffee. The raven watched as, the girl took the thermos cap off and poured the steaming drink into it.

"I brewed it myself." Anastasia stated as she handed the drink over.

Reborn eyed the drink for a moment before sipping on it slowly. The familiar taste of coffee touched his tongue and he swallowed, before staring at the liquid. 'Was it possible for coffee to taste even better?' He thought incredulously.

"Did you hand brew it?"

"I used a machine but I measured out everything myself."

The raven hummed as he continued to savour the drink. The moment he finished it, he shoved the cup forward, silently demanding more.

Anastasia simply smiled bemusedly, before filling the cup once more. "I take it that it's good."

"I wouldn't be asking for more if I didn't like it. I wish there was something stronger than coffee."

Anastasia blinked, tilting her head in a questioning gesture. "You mean like an espresso?"

"Espresso? Never heard of it. It probably doesn't exist in this world." Reborn stated before sipping at his drink once more, enjoying the taste and warmth it brought to his body. He went for his third and before long, fourth cup.

Anastasia hummed slightly as she nodded, internally wondering if Reborn was going to drink the entire container.

"I'll make some for you next time."

"...bring me more food too."

Anastasia smiled at him in fond amusement. "Okay."

After the next meeting, Reborn's favourite drink became espresso, however, he only truly enjoyed it whenever Anastasia made it herself. He knew from then on that he would want the girl to come over more often, if only for the food that she brought with her.


	6. Surprising Introductions

Reborn walked calmly through the dark woods, the seemingly moving shadowy corners of the trees having no effect on him. His thoughts whirled around, and though he would never admit it (even under torture) but he was confused and yet astounded by the girl.

'That Princess is one odd girl.' He thought, in amusement yet fondly.

Slowly a house appeared through the trees, the the large building was located at the edge of Celestial City. A place well-known about in ShadowVales for its bright lights and it's numerous habitats. The place was hidden from the city due to the Lunar Woods, where he met with Anastasia. The house, though located right next to the city, was far enough that it was quiet from all the traffic and flashing lights.

Stepping onto the porch, he glanced back by habit, intently checking his surroundings for the presence of another. Finding nothing but the usual silent darkness, he took out his keys to open the door. Light flooded his eyes and he blinked to adjust them even as his ears picked up the sound of movements. Immediately, he turned to face the direction it sounded from before his body relaxed.

There, settled comfortably in front of the TV in the living room, was a blond-haired man who looked quite relaxed despite the intrusion. The man, Colonello, wore a slightly disheveled green military uniform with a headband around his head, keeping his golden locks from falling down.

"Yo, Reborn. You finally came back!" The blond's bright blue eyes peered over the other, taking note of anything unusual. However, there was nothing abnormal. Reborn looked the same now as he had when he stepped out this morning.

"Where've you been?"

Reborn tilted his fedora down, "Out."

"Out?" A voice spoke from behind. A man in red garb and long tied-back silver hair stepped out from the kitchen. His robes fell down to his boots and contained slits on each side to allow free movement. His violet eyes, curious as he threaded his hands together through the long sleeves. "You've been going out quite a bit these days, from morning to night."

"Aurelio's right, Reborn. You've been disappearing to somewhere every day. Got a girlfriend or something?" Colonello shut off the tv, finding the conversation much more interesting than the taped movie. He placed the remote onto the coffee table in front and stood up, heading closer to the fedora wearing man. He grinned mischievously, wondering about all the possibilities that could keep the other away so much.

It definitely couldn't be a job.

Reborn sighed, "Not exactly. But I am seeing someone, a curious little human."

"A human? Really?" Aurelio tilted his head at that, surprised. He smiled soon after. "My, you should bring them over then. I wonder just what you see in them to keep your attention like that."

Reborn huffed amused, "I wonder about that myself. I met her by chance and after that, we talked and kept meeting each other. She's quite the oddball though."

"Well, she has to be one if she's keeping your attention for this long." A woman regarded as she walked by, coming from upstairs. Her dark purple hair was held up in a messy bun, and though she was dressed in a pair of simple t-shirt and shorts you could clearly see her slim figure. Passing by the three man, she went into the kitchen, opened the fridge and brought out a bottle of water before coming back out.

She stopped before the trio of men for a moment before she stated. "And Reborn, bring her over here. I'm interested to see what she's like."

With that, the women went back up the stairs and disappeared into the corridors.

Colonello grinned, pleased, at that. "Well, you heard her. Leonora wants her over."

Aurelio simply chuckled at the dark-haired man's predicament, bring a sleeve to cover his lips.

"Fine, I'll see what I can do but I promise nothing." Reborn huffed under his breath before folding his arms across his chest. "By the way, whose turn is it to cook?"

Aurelio and Colonello glanced at each other briefly before turning to face the raven with a smirk.

"Yours."

Reborn cursed.

\-------------------------------

Anastasia hummed softly under her breath as she began to braid her hair into a side french braid.

"Well, don't you seem cheerful?" Her brother remarked by the door. A grin on his face as he walked closer to stand behind her.

"Been avoiding those crazy classmates I have, I am absolutely thrilled."

The mention of classmates brought a frown to her brother's face. "Honestly, they really should stop by now. Just because you don't have a contract yet, doesn't mean that you're defenseless."

Anastasia simply smiled deviously at him, "Some people simply never learn."

Hadrian sighed tiredly as he tilted his head downwards to look at her. "How many?"

"How many what?" She questioned innocently.

"Don't play the innocent act now," her brother stated, rolling his eyes. "How many people did you take revenge on?"

Anastasia shrugged lightly, "Not much, only like 20."

Her brother raised an eyebrow, "Your class is made up of 30 people, including you."

The older teen simply shrugged once more in response. Laughing slightly at her brother's exasperated look, Anastasia spoke. "Oh, relax Rian, I'm not going to get caught. I learnt from mom remember?"

Her brother finally let out a chuckle, "True, mom _is_ vicious when it comes to revenge."

Anastasia winked at him, "As I said, learnt from the best. Now c'mon, I wanna get some croissants before first period.

\-------------------------------

Anastasia munched contently on her buttery croissant as she made her way to class. One hand on the treat, as the other held on to her books. Finishing the fattening yet tasty pastry by the door, the girl allowed her books to float mid-air as she wiped her hands on some wet tissue, moving towards her seat as she did.

She was, momentarily unaware, of the small group of girls who stood by her usual seat. Arms crossed and face set in a glare that made their normally pretty faces grotesque.

"You're not supposed to use magic in classes." One of the girls stated, in a bossy, know-it-all tone.

Grey eyes spared a brief glance at the group, before quipping back an "I know." As she snatched the floating books to hold them in her arms.

"Then why are you still doing it?" She sneered, raising an eyebrow in question.

Anastasia stared at her, face unimpressed. "Obviously, because my hands were full, I thought that you didn't need glasses?"

The girl's already grotesque face burned a bright, angry red at the veiled insult.

"You think you're so great Millefiore," the girl spat, eyes blazing in fury before her features turned smug. "But you don't even have a contract and practical classes are just about to start."

Anastasia clenched her fist at her sides, her eyes furious despite her calm visage. She opened her mouth to retort when another voice called out.

"Ms Brown, may I ask why you are out of your seat?"

The current lecturer stood by the large center desk, arms crossed against his chest and foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

The red-head next to her, blinked slightly in surprise before taking notice of the quite handsome lecturer and began to flutter her eyelashes coyly at him.

"Oh, I was simply reminding _Anastasia_ here that practicals are coming up, sir."

The man arched an eyebrow at her, "From the records I saw, I'm sure that Ms Millefiore is well aware of her class schedules, afterall she holds the record for having the highest grades in her classes."

Anastasia stifled her laughter as the girl's face burned a bright red in embarrassment and hastily took her seat.

"Now, if you're quite finished delaying your classmates." He stated gesturing towards the rest of the class who were holding their own laughter at the girl's predicament. "I'd like to get started on today's topic which will come up in your test."

\-------------------------------

Anastasia kicked at a stray pebble by her feet, books clutched in her arms. She made her way towards the dorms, head clouded with dark thoughts.

_'You don't even have a contract!'_

The statement rang loudly through her head, it's weight heavy and threatening. It was however, the truth, after 3 months of schooling she had yet to acquire even a single contract. It was however rarely her fault. She was hardly able to create a contract with someone -anyone, really- when each time she was there, _someone_ would be waiting. Black eyes silently demanding food and coffee even as his stance screamed arrogance. On other days, it was the crazy mobs of people she had for classmates intent on injuring her -more like killing- so really when would she have the time to actually search for a contract amongst all that?

Letting out a small tired sigh, Anastasia allowed her feet to navigate her through the bustling crowd without actual conscious thought. Several loud screaming in front of her, however, brought her attention to her surroundings. Grey eyes stared at the large group of screaming and giggling girls clamoring by the exit gate in exasperation.

'Why today of all days?' She thought despondently to herself, shoving her way towards the exit.

As she made away around the large group, her eyes caught a flash of black and blonde in the center of the circle. Suspicions rising, she slowed her stride listening to the giggled conversations.

"What's your name?"

"Are you a student here?"

"Can we get your number?"

Anastasia rolled her eyes at that, her figure relaxing in relief. It was just a couple of girls crowding over a guy, and here she thought that _he_ was here.

"I'm just waiting for someone."

The smooth, silky voice caused her to tense and grey eyes to widen. She knew that voice. It was _his_ voice. He was here! How the hell was he able to cross barriers easily? Hiding her face behind her black tresses, Anastasia moved to run when an arm was wrapped around her waist, holding tight with a steel-like grip.

"That was mean of you princess," the voice purred into her ear, "leaving me here waiting for you without knowing that you're leaving."

"Renato -lord knows how long it took for her to finally know that- , what are you doing here? And _how_ exactly did you get here?"

Her cold tone brought several frowns from the crowd of girls who continued to seek the attention of the fedora-wearing man. However, Anastasia currently was not in the mood to deal with another nuisance and focused on the one directly behind her.

"Didn't I just say it? I'm here to pick you up and don't underestimate me princess, I'm powerful enough to pass through the portals myself." Renato-Reborn-stated from behind her, moving his arm to hold her sideways. "My colleagues wanted to meet you, I even had to bring one along with me."

"Oi, you jerk! Don't make me sound like a dog." Came a shout from the center of the crowding girls.

Grey eyes watched curiously, as a young man stepped forwards through the rather impressive barricade of girls. His blonde hair and blue eyes were bright, much like the grin on his place. Despite the warm and inviting aura around him -opposite to the dark and death-like aura that surrounded the person standing next to her- his green american military uniform caused people to keep a safe distance from him. The large riffle strapped to his back simply solidified that fact.

"Ciao! I'm Collonello De Angelis, I work with Reborn over there." He greeted cheerily.

Anastasia smiled back at him, his grin rather infectious. "Anastasia Millefiore, nice to meet you."

His blue eyes blinked before they widened, "A Millefiore huh, no wonder you got broody Reborn's attention." He stated, grinning cheekily at said broody teen.

"Watch it idiot, I can still take you, group or no group."Reborn snapped, teeth barred menacingly.

"Just try it, you half-wit." The blonde egged, hand reaching towards the riffle on his back.

The atmosphere tensed as lightning crackled between the two teens, one frowning darkly while the other grinned. Just as both moved to clutch at their weapons, a sharp crackle of orange appeared between them.

The wall-like barrier encased the black-haired girl, who stood between the two glaring daggers at both man.

"Stop it you two!" She snapped, eyes glowing a bright orange. "Do not make a scene here, or I will end you both."

The two stared at her, one with a small smug smirk on his face while the other was openly gaping. Slowly, both of them relaxed their postures and the air became light once more. Glancing meaningfully at each one, Anastasia began to dissipate the barrier as well, the orange glow shimmering into non-existence.

"Now," she started turning to look at the rather pleased fedora-wearing teen, "I am going to go meet your colleagues Renato and you two are not going to fight. Is that clear?"

Reborn simply smirked at her, while Collonello continued to gap at her form as if she was an alien. Rolling her eyes tiredly, Anastasia began making her way towards the dorms with or without the other two behind her.

"I see why you're so taken with her. After that I think I might be too." Collonello muttered to the black-haired man.

Reborn chuckled darkly. "Just remember, _she's mine_."

Having said what he needed the hitman walked away after his soon-to-be meister. Collonello hollered at him as he jogged to catch up.

"Not if I get to her first!"

\-------------------------------

Anastasia stood tall under the scrutiny of the women before her, despite her urge to fidget as jade green eyes took in her form. She could here the muffled chuckles of Colonello from behind her and could practically _feel_ the smirk on Reborn's face. Feeling an eyebrow twitch, Anastasia vowed to hit them both on the head after this was over with. Her thoughts -heading towards the rather murderous actions now- was halted by thin arms wrapping themselves around her form in a crushing hug.

"Aww, you're so cutee!" The woman, -Leonora was it?- squealed into her ear. "I can't believe that grumpy coffee-lover Reborn could find someone this cute!"

Anastasia muffled her laughter at the dig towards the fedora-wearing man, but Colonello had no trouble in expressing his joy and burst out laughing. Reborn muttered darkly under his breath, before swiping a hand and smacking the blonde's head with his gun. Said blonde clutched his head, crying out slightly in pain.

The two beside her, sighed similar sighs of familiarity and exasperation at the sight. Turning to her left, grey eyes watched as Leonora smiled despite the annoyance in her eyes. On her other side, stood Aurelio -who she was introduced to briefly before Leonora began staring her down- who shook his head in fond exasperation at the scene.

Warmth bubbled within her, without knowing Anastasia smiled softly, her eyes warm and unguarded.

'Why do I feel like I've seen this all before?'


	7. Of Contracts & Fights

Collonello heaved a sigh as he laid, sprawled on the couch. A large bag of crisps cradled in one hand as the other held the remote. His blue eyes stared listlessly at the changing screen in front of him, slowly munching on his crisps as he did.

"Are you sure you're an eagle? Because, right now you look more like a pig." Leonora commented as she stepped towards the kitchen, purple hair held in a messy bun.

"Piss off 'Nora."

The woman laughed at his remark, "Go do something, you make us look bad on times like this."

Collonello groaned, "What do you expect me to do? Aurelio's off to do who-knows-what, and Reborn's off with Anastasia."

"Well, then go spar or something, really you look like a fat husband waiting for dinner."

"Aww, you'd know that wouldn't you wife." Collonello mock cooed at the woman who simply flipped him the finger.

"Screw you, blondie."

Her receding footsteps were followed by Collonello's laughter, until his ring tone sounded through the air.

"Yellow."

"Tch, the princess wants to talk to you _idiota_." The voice spoke darkly and Collonello could easily picture the scowl on the other's face.

"You're just jealous that she wants to talk to me." He stated smugly, hearing the cocking of a gun and a hurried shout of 'Just give me the phone Reborn! And no shooting!'

"Sorry about that Collonello, he's just sulking." Anastasia stated, the blonde grinned silently at the background mutterings of 'not sulking' from the hitman.

The blonde laughed heartily, "What else is new? Anyways, what did you need of me, _princess_?"

The blonde's grin grew as Anastasia sighed tiredly into the phone, "Not you too," she spoke voice laced with exasperation, before it turned grave. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you a huge favour."

"How huge are we talking about here?" He asked, voice uncharacteristically serious.

"Contract-huge." His blue eyes widened, at the reply. "See, my class is currently having a sort of battle-test and I need to have 2 contracts, minimum. Cause, apparently I'm 'new' or something," the girl replied, tone laced with so much annoyance that Collonello could picture how she looked. "So I figured I would ask you, would you want to form a contract with me?"

Silence stretched throughout the conversation, and Anastasia hurriedly stated. "It's okay if you don't want to, I can always—"

"I'll do it."

The blonde had shocked both himself and the teen at his words.

"...What?" Anastasia questioned in disbelief.

"I said that I'll do it." Collonello replied, voice firm. Despite his sudden statement, he didn't feel any regret at his statement. He did always plan on having her as his Meister anyways, this was just a fast-tracked way.

"...Are you sure Collonello? This is something you can't go back on and I don't want to trap you in this if you don't want it."

An uncharacteristic soft smile graced Collonello's face at the sincere, soft tone. He was certain that he wouldn't regret this choice of his, not when his Meister would be someone this caring.

"I'm sure princess, now let me get there and let's kick butt!"

Anastasia smiled at the energetic reply, "Well, come over then, and Collonello?" At the blonde's 'hmm' she spoke, " _Thank you_."

\-------------------------------

Students bustled around the large room, some settled in groups while others remained solitary. Loud chattering filled the large halls and despite the crowds Anastasia could feel the eyes staring at her and her current companions. Although to be fair, they _do_ attract attention, both in a good and bad way.

Reborn; clad in a neatly pressed suit with a yellow tie and black dress shoes stood out like a sore thumb, his customary black fedora complete with a yellow band was settled impeccably atop his black hair. Collonello wasn't doing any better, dressed in his usual white tank-top complete with camouflage pants and matching jacket along with black combat boots. His rifle was still strapped onto his back and he was grinning, albeit rather maniacally.

Anastasia released a sigh of fond exasperation and smiled softly before staring at her now marked wrists; one on her right and one on her left. There on the soft skin were inked images; much like tattoos, one was a side image of a large crow with it's wings folded, the sun behind it's back. While the other was of an eagle in mid-flight, wings spread wide with rain droplets behind it.

The teen stroked at each mark softly, slightly proud at the fact that these were _her_ contracts, despite the fact that one of them happened _without_ her knowledge. Her reverie was cut short when her right wrist was pulled, grey eyes flashed upwards only to relax at the sight of blonde hair.

"Hey, when did you get Reborn's mark? I thought I was the first." Collonello questioned with a pout, Reborn simply smirked smugly beside him.

Anastasia shot the hitman an exasperated glare, "Apparently, _someone_ decided to do a self-contract on me. When I was _asleep_."

"You wouldn't mind it anyways,"

"That's not the point Reborn!" Anastasia stated, throwing her free hand upwards in exasperation.

"I was just speeding up the inevitable, besides if anyone is going to be the first it would be _me_." The hitman replied confidently.

"This isn't a contest for God's sake, and anyways _you're_ not supposed to decide who _my_ first contract would b—"

"Sis!"

Anastasia turned towards her incoming brother and waved him over at the shout. Due to this, she was unaware of the angry looks Collonello had shot the smug Reborn. Irritated, the blonde took out his rifle ready to aim, and the hitman retaliated by bringing out his own gun.

"Boys," Came Anastasia's voice, warningly. "Behave."

Reluctantly both men put away their weapons and was instead faced with one moody Meister and one amused sibling.

"Your friends sis?" Hadrian questioned, a small quirk on his lips.

"No, thank goodness. They're—"

"She's our Meister." Reborn interjected smoothly, wrapping an arm around her waist as Collonello wrapped one around her shoulder.

Hadrian's green eyes widened in recognition, "You've made contracts! And these are your Mioddiavions?"

Anastasia smiled, "Unfortunately, it seems so."

Collonello's whining of 'Take that back!' and Reborn's insistent poking at her waist only caused her to laugh, watching as her brother bounced on his feet in excitement.

Suddenly, the speakers crackled to life. "Class 3Q, you're practical exercises will begin in 5 minutes. Please proceed to your rooms and prepare."

"That's my cue Hadrian, better get going." Anastasia spoke freeing herself from the grip her Mioddiavions had on her.

Hadrian grinned before he darted to hug her briefly, "I'll be in the stands, and I can't wait to see how your battles will go!"

Anastasia smirked before she headed off towards her assigned room, Reborn and Collonello behind her.

\-------------------------------

The prepared battle room was large and circular in shape, much like the olden Colosseum days. There were benches held high up overlooking the round area and large screens to show the candidate's statuses. Tall, steel walls covered the arena, preventing any harm from occurring to any of the viewers in worst case scenarios. While a shining blue dome-like barrier, covered the upper part to prevent any airborne attacks from harming the viewers.

Collonello whistled lowly under his breath, "They really mean a battle huh."

Anastasia nodded absently, eyes roaming around the structure. Taking notes of the high roof and the beginnings of a dome over the seats to avoid air-based attacks.

Reborn 'tsked' derisively at Collonello's comment but his eyes were diligently taking in details of his surrounding, any information he could gain to ease the battle would be useful.

"Alright! Everyone gather round!" An instructor shouted, the man stood in the center of the arena and was gesturing wildly at the class. "Listen up now! The battle will be a mock tournament, so the first round will eliminate at least half before the winners move forward and battle each other. Two students will reach the final and from there the winner will be identified. You all get that!?"

A hand shot up amongst the crowd, "Will the winner receive a prize!?"

The instructor nodded, "We decided that the winner of the battle would receive perfect marks for the entire first semester. While the others will be graded entirely on their attacks, defenses, and time taken to end the battle."

Murmurs began to arose from the crowd of students and Anastasia could even here the statement, "The prize is mine." once in a while. Looking behind her, she could see the excited bounce in Collonello's form and the manic gleam in Reborn's dark eyes. Shaking her head, she could only hope that they reign in their excitement and _not_ demolish the arena or their opponents for that matter.

"Alright! Let's start shall we? First up, Ms Millefiore and Mr Evan!"

Anastasia blinked once, before moving to one side of the arena gesturing for her 2 companions to join her. She was halted mid-way by the instructor, "Only Mioddiavions are allowed to be here. Other than that, any friends or family members need to be registered in the front desk and given an access badge to freely enter."

Anastasia stared at the instructor in confusion and barely held scorn at his comment. "They _are_ Mioddiavions."

The man gave her a look that was a mix of confusion, annoyance and slight disbelief. "Nice try Millefiore, but Mioddiavions cannot fully look human. It's impossible for them, it takes too much of their powers."

The hitman watched as his Meister argued with the would be referee, he 'tsked' softly under his breath. 'This man is taking way too long,' Reborn sighed. Deciding that enough was enough, the hitman moved to expose his wrist placing it next to Anastasia's marked ones.

"There." He stated confidently, staring at the instructor who paled. "That's enough proof that we're Mioddiavions isn't it?" There on his wrist was her mark; a black rose. Collonello held up his wrist in a similar manner, and there inked to his skin was a similar mark.

" _They're Mioddiavions_?" The man asked, disbelief lacing his voice.

Anastasia nodded, looking at ease despite the threatening aura both the men beside her were letting out. When she noticed that the man had simply began gaping like a fish, she arched an eyebrow and resumed walking to her side of the arena. Tugging both Reborn and Collonello to follow her, who despite the harsh tugs sent glares at the man.

"Just stop it, both of you." Anastasia stated voice exasperate. "I'm used to it now, it doesn't bother me. So stop sending the poor man death glares."

Reborn scowled darkly and Collonello frowned but stayed silent, they both glared threateningly one last time before turning around to follow their Meister towards their corner of the arena.

"Uh, well now that it's all settled, let's start the Mock Battle." The referee stuttered slightly still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that a high school student had managed to contract Mioddiavions with human forms.

Grey eyes calmly scrutinized the teen across her. His face wasn't very memorable, framed by shaggy blonde hair complete with plain blue eyes, nothing like Collonello's looks despite the similar colouring. The scowl on his face however, made his plain features look grotesque.

"Strong Mioddiavions or not, you're still inexperienced, there's no way you'll beat me!" He snarled, sounding insulted that he was paired up with a girl. "Come, Nikothoe!"

A blue summoning circle glowed in front of the teen, and from it came a Mioddiavion that was somewhat part gryphon and part harpy. With sharp claws on it's paws and human-like legs, it was quite the weird sight.

"It's of the Earth affinity huh" Collonello muttered, blue eyes trained on the newly summoned Mioddiavion.

Anastasia blinked, tilting her head slightly in question. "Are all Earth affiliated Mioddiavions like that?"

"Most are," Reborn stated, cocking his gun in one hand. "Since their tied to the Earth and such, they tend to not have human forms."

"Huh."

"Stop talking and fight!" Her opponent yelled before shouting at his Mioddiavion to attack. The strange being barely got a step in when it went down, a bullet lodged neatly in it's head. There was a loud thud before it's form disappeared in smoke as it's Meister coughed out blood.

Anastasia stared to her right where Reborn stood, his right arm outstretched and gun still smoking at the edges. "Don't you think that you were too mean?"

The hitman simply scowled, "This thing is taking away my coffee time, so no. It wasn't too mean."

On her left Collonello guffawed, "You and your coffee."

The black-haired man rolled his eyes, "Just like you and your guns."

That got the blonde to scowl, "Keep my babies out of this Reborn."

Anastasia let out an aggravated sigh, "Alright, stop it you two. We were —are— in the middle of a match here."

Her gaze strayed to the referee who had announced her next opponent, who just happened to be the same girl who had 'informed' her of the coming practicals. The other girl scowled at her, before a smug look replaced it.

"Let's see you go against this. Go Nevaeh, Vilara!"

This time a bright yellow summoning circle glowed alive, and from it floated 2 beings with sharp metallic angel wings. It's body was that of a scantily clad female and Anastasia chuckled lightly at the sight of her brother blushing before he averted his eyes away. The Mioddiavions released a screeching cry as it dove for Collonello, a sword swinging in their hands.

"A Light attribute huh, perfect for you Reborn!" The blonde stated grinning as he dodged.

Reborn huffed, "You do it, I took the last one."

"That's cause you stole it! I wanted the last one!"

The hitman smirked smugly, "Well, that's too bad isn't it."

Collonello growled lowly before he leaped into the air, " _Lance D'acqua_!"

Immediately, dozens of water spears shot down towards the other Mioddiavions. Piercing at it's wings and body, the creatures managed a pained screech before it burst out in white light.

"Collonello, really, tone down the violence." Anastasia uttered, safely encompassed within an orange barrier. A quick swipe of hand and the glowing dome lowered itself.

"But this is boring, Princess." The blonde whined, hands griping at her shoulders. "Let's just finish up fast and then you can watch me kick Reborn's butt!"

The hitman scoffed from her right, "I believe that if anyone's 'butt' is going to be kicked it's yours _idiota_."

"What did you say, you egocentric jerk!?"

"Stop it! Both of you!" Anastasia finally yelled out. Both Mioddiavions stiffened in shock and trepidation, turning to face their irate Meister. "Now listen up," Anastasia began, "you both are going to finish up these fights and then you are going back to the house while _I_ relax in my dorm. You get that?"

Collonello nodded quickly, while Reborn simply gave a short nod. It's simply best to agree with their Meister when she got in her 'I'm pissed off' mood. This way they would at least walk away unharmed.

Anastasia nodded, satisfied at the response. "Good, now the next opponent is coming."

\-------------------------------

Her other battles continued similarly, with either Reborn or Collonello destroying the incoming creatures and soon enough she was done. Receiving perfect scores, she wasn't even much help to either of them. Simply sharing her energy with them once in a while, which seemingly gave them huge power boosts. Seeing as Reborn's bullets became twice as deadly afterwards, or how Collonello's arsenal of weapons doubled upon summoned.

"Alright, both of you head back now. I'm going to take a nice long soak before meeting my brother for dinner." Anastasia said towards her 2 Mioddiavions, who acquiesced, Collonello with a bright grin and Reborn with a small smirk.

"I'll meet you both tomorrow." Anastasia bid, waving her hand in goodbye as Collonello vanished in a small vortex of water.

Reborn lingered longer, black eyes inspecting her form for injuries. When he found none, he sighed and uttered, "I'll come back after you're done with your soak and dinner."

With that spoken the hitman was engulfed in shadows, disappearing from her sight.

Anastasia sighed lightly, "Honestly, are all Darkness attributes this overprotective or is he just special."

Shaking her head at her Mioddiavions antics, she decided to think about it later and headed out of the candidates room, towards the exit. She had meant what she said about that soak and she was sure that her brother was currently waiting for her outside.

From the shadows behind her a pair of eyes gleamed dangerously. A light sheen of insanity glinting in their depths.


	8. Looming Dangers

Soft wisps of steam clouded her marbled floors as Anastasia padded her way towards her vanity table, hair damp and towel in hand. Settling herself on the white stool, the girl moved to towel off the moisture in her hair before slowly combing out the occasional tangles amongst her dark tresses. The sudden slamming of her door had her swiveling in her chair, damp hair whipping through the wind as her eyes glowed orange in preparation of a spell. Her stiff posture relaxed as the sight of her brother's heaving form, pressed against the door.

"You gave me a heart attack!"

Her brother opened his mouth to open before apparently giving up on it, choosing instead to gulp down air.

Anastasia peered at him curiously through her mirror, already turning away to continue drying her hair. "What's got you like this?"

Her brother staggered from her door to flop down on her bed, face down before mumbling a few words into her bed sheet.

"Hadrian, stop speaking to my bed sheet."

Her brother grumbled under his breath but turned over to his back before saying. "One word sis. Girls."

Anastasia snickered softly under her breath as she headed for her wardrobe to change. "Told you that we should meet in the lobby. But, _no_ you wanted to come to my room."

"But then, there wouldn't be a bed I could flop on to."

Anastasia shook her head at that before disappearing into the bathroom to change her damp clothing. A few minutes later she reappeared donning on an ice blue strapless dress with a white short jacket on top and matching flats. She then padded over to her dresser again to place on a white, diamond studded watch and a pair of simple diamond earrings.

"Why are you all dolled up?"

Anastasia twisted her head to look at her brother as she fastened on her chosen earrings. "For the same reason you are."

Her brother cursed loudly, seemingly ignoring the chiding 'Language' that Anastasia uttered out of habit.

"When did you know?" Her brother questioned, pouting.

"When I saw you enter." She replied as she placed away her wallet, tissues, phone, headsets and other essentials inside a small white sling bag. "I _told_ you that meeting in the lobby would be best. Especially if you wanted it to be a surprise."

"You'll know _even_ then."

Anastasia simply smirked, not denying the claim.

"C'mon, let's get going. I'm starving."

Her brother nodded, and stood, heading out for the door as she snapped her fingers to lock and secure her room while she was out.

"You have to teach me that."

"I would, if I knew that you wouldn't misuse it, like I know you plan to."

\-------------------------------

"So, what was up with your clearly over powered Miods?"

Anastasia looked up at her brother as she neatly sliced her Chicken Parmigiana. The two were settled nicely, in a fancy italian restaurant just nearby the dorms. Having chosen particularly private tables to eat, really their family name held quite the power.

"I have no idea, I've never fought with them before." She replied before chewing on her piece of chicken.

Across the table, her brother arched an eyebrow as he took a bite out of the inky black pasta on his plate. "Really? That was you're first time? When did you contract them?"

Anastasia swallowed her bite before replying, hand already moving to twist a few of her own pasta onto her fork. "I just contracted Collonello today, before the match. And Reborn was only a few days earlier."

The girl grew concerned when her brother choked on his bite, reaching for his glass of water as he thumped his chest to help ease the food down.

"Are you seriously telling me that you fought with _newly contracted_ Miods?" He asked incredulously once he was able to breathe once more.

"Uh, yeah?" Anastasia confirmed, slightly confused. "What's so weird about that?"

"So weird!?" Her brother exploded, drawing attention from the nearby tables. His voice lowered down to a harsh whisper when Anastasia glared slightly at him. "There is literally no records of anyone who uses newly contracted Miods in battles! None! No one _ever_ uses newly contracted Miods because their still too uncontrollable, something about being new to the bond! And you're telling me that you did it!?"

Anastasia shrugged, "You probably could too."

"That's not the issue here!" Her brother stated, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation.

"Then tell me why is it so Hadrian, because you panicking doesn't really explain anything." Anastasia stated, her grey eyes hard and ever so slightly cold.

Her brother seemed to compose himself, before he spoke once more. "This is a big deal sis, like crazy huge."

"How so?"

Anastasia watched as her brother visibly held off his first words, features shifting into exasperation, disbelief before settling on a more serious one.

"Don't you get it yet? No Meister has ever been able to control newly bond Miods. Not even those of the most experienced had managed to do so. Suddenly, you're able to and you haven't even reached you're maturity yet. Do you see how this can go?" Her brother questioned, tone serious.

"If anyone finds out, and I mean anyone, it'll be _big_ news. The government might even be involved."

That certainly got her attention.

"Are you being serious right now?" Anastasia whispered out harshly.

"Do you actually think that I would be kidding about something like this?" Her brother questioned.

She gave him a tired look, "You know that I wouldn't." Biting her lip in slight fear, her question came out slightly wobbly. "Is this entire thing really that big of a deal?"

The younger teen gave her a slightly pitying look, "I repeat, no records in history. _History_."

"What should I do then? The mock-tournament are starting again after tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure the semi-finals and finals will be attended by the parents."

Her brother crossed his arms in thought, "For now, I guess just lay low. Tell your Miods to not do stunts that are too crazy again and just try to pass without coming off as being too strong a Meister."

"It's easy for you too say," Anastasia sighed out tiredly, reaching for her glass of mocktail and taking a sip. "You don't know what Collonello and Reborn are like. They live on challenges and thrill of battles. Heck that's probably why they went so trigger-happy at the battles."

"Well, just bribe them or something but keep them from showing off unless you want the government to get involved."

'Guess, it can't be helped.' Anastasia sighed tiredly, 'I better go out and buy more coffee along with a bunch apples.'

\-------------------------------

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?" Her brother asked worriedly, as they stood just outside the restaurant.

Anastasia simply shook her head, "Don't be silly, the supermarket's just a few blocks away. Anyways, don't you have that test on Mioddiavions History? I remember that you have a hard time remembering the dates."

"Ah, drats, you're right." Her brother stated, slapping a hand lightly to his forehead. "Still though, you better call me when you get to the supermarket, when you're leaving the supermarket and when you're home."

Anastasia rolled her eyes at his requests, "Sure, sure. Should I call you about when I sleep too?"

Her brother pouted at her remark, "Maybe, I should start asking you to." He laughed at the face she pulled before he patted at her head, "I just worry okay, it's not often that you're out on your own."

"Well, duh." Anastasia retorted lightly, "You and dad were the one who wouldn't let me leave the house without either escorts or one of you."

"It was for your own safety!"

The girl arched an eyebrow in disbelief, "Really? You had the bodyguards armed to the teeth. And even then you were 5 steps behind us! You're lucky our family's so well-off, or else I'd be banned from coming to the malls."

"Okay, me and dad do go overboard sometimes," her brother conceded, a hand rubbing at his neck. "But mom's just as bad, isn't she?"

Anastasia shook her head fondly, "You're all a bunch of overprotective people, I wonder what will happen when I have a boyfriend."

"He will have to go through various deadly trials and through 3 very scary Meisters all with their own arsenal of spells." Her brother stated confidently, eyes gleaming with a sort of anticipatory gleam that you see in hunters when they hunt for prey.

"Anyways," Anastasia uttered, "I better go now if I want to be back at the dorms before midnight. Go study hard and make sure you ace tomorrow's test."

Her brother grinned at her charmingly, "Then I'll await the treat for the good scores!"

Smiling slightly, Anastasia waved him off and watched as her brother's silhouette disappeared into the light. She turned towards the other direction and began walking, she could have teleported but felt that a walk would calm the lingering thoughts from dinner.

"So? What do you think Renato?"

The shadows by the tree moved and grew as if to create a passage, and shortly Reborn appeared from it, dressed immaculately as always.

"When did you realize I was there?" The hitman questioned, easily falling into step beside the girl. 

"Ever since we exited the restaurant," Anastasia replied, a small smile on her face, "your shadows are easy to spot once you know what to look for."

Reborn simply hummed, "You're catching on quick, even the others had a hard time in the beginning."

"Good for me then, huh." She replied absentmindedly, eyes steadily looking towards the bright lights of the convenience store, "So, you didn't answer my question, what do you think?"

"It is a possibility that we can't overlook, especially if the ministry were to take interest in it." The man contemplated lowly, hands securely tucked in his pockets. "The hard part would be convincing Collonello to lay low, the attention-seeking hog he is."

Anastasia muffled a chuckle at the comment, "You aren't that different from him you know, both of you are just as bad especially if it concerns fights."

The answering cocky smirk simply made her laugh even harder, shaking her head at his unrepentant gesture. "Anyway, accompany me shopping will you? I need to stock up on ingredients and other supplies."

The man simply sighed, "You plan to make me carry all your shopping do you?"

The girl simply smiled sweetly at him, "Why, whatever gave you _that_ idea?"

\-------------------------------

"Ah," the figure commented a malicious smirk pulling at their lips, "it seems that I was found." 

Hidden behind the greenery nearby, the looming figure watched as the man in the fedora aimed his eyes at where he stood. The threat of 'Stay away.' clearly seen in the black depths, before he turned to follow the girl inside. 

"Well, I would've been more worried if he _didn't_ find me. He is afterall one of the World's Strongest; the Arcobaleno Reborn."


	9. The First Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the story's been okay so far >.<  
> I'm sorry if it's bad, I hope my first fanfiction isn't a mess (>_<|||)

Anastasia huffed out a breath, slowing down her pace once she could no longer feel the tremors of the earth or the voices.

"I completely blame you two for this." She stated, grey eyes staring at the two figures in front of her.

Reborn simply smirked even as Collonello whined loudly. "But _why_? We did _nothing_."

"You two showed off during the exams!" The girl accused as she continued to walk through the grounds. "Defeating your opponents in less than 3 minutes, is definitely _not_ nothing."

"But we helped you get perfect grades for the _entire_ semester." The blonde continued, even as he trekked after her.

"Yeah well, I still would've gotten perfect grades even if you held back a little wouldn't I?"

Deciding to step in before the disagreement turned into an outright shouting match, Reborn spoke. "Well, no use getting angry over it now is it? What's done is done."

Anastasia sighed, "True, but I can still complain."

Collonello waved away her words, "Complaining is fine and all but shouldn't we plan of what we're going to do when the government takes action?"

The girl hummed, thoughts already whirring. She had filled in Collonello -and by default the entire gang- last night, receiving various degree of concern and fear. Along with various of advices, in which they basically told her to just kill the government off. Which _did not_ help her dilemma. _At all_.

"I think we should wait," Anastasia stated, hands idily twisting a small leaf, "they haven't done anything yet and there's nothing we can actually do without proof or provocation."

Reborn hummed thoughtfully by her side, "But we should still take some security measures. In our line of work, waiting often gets us killed."

"As long as I stay in the academy and abide by the rules then they can't touch me." The girl pointed out. "Not unless they want to answer questions from both the school board _and_ the Millefiore family."

Collonello sighed despondently, "Guess, we need to wait until they make their move. And here I wanted to fight them head on."

Anastasia shook her head in a mix of exasperation and tired fondness. "Why are all of you so bloodthirsty? Can't I actually get a normal Miod for once?"

\--------------------

"...I need to go _where_ now?"

Reborn sighed in annoyance, tugging of his fedora to run his hands through his hair in a desperate gesture. "America. With Collonello."

Anastasia simply continued to stare at him incredulously. The two of them were located inside her dorm room where the girl had been _trying_ to finish up her workload before this - _whatever_ this is- came up.

"Again, _why_?"

This brought on another sigh, " _Because_ , I have a hit today and no one else is free enough to watch you."

The girl huffed, setting down her pencil and giving up all hope of doing her work. "I can actually just stay here you know, in the academy."

"Not a chance."

'Well, that was shot down rather fast.' She thought to herself even as she replied. "Why not?"

"Because I said so."

Anastasia felt herself twitch in annoyance, glaring at the man she turned to continue her attempts at finishing her work only to find it gone.

"Reborn," she ground out, "give me back my papers."

"No." The hitman retorted, already stuffing her stuff inside a bag, -neatly, thankfully, she would have lost it if those were crumpled up- along with any other essentials she would need.

"You can take these with you but you _are_ going with Collonello."

"Make me." The girl retorted heatedly, eyes ablazed.

\--------------------

"Stupid, coffee-loving jerk." The girl muttered as she sat on a leather sofa in Collonello's office. "Just you wait, I'll get you back."

Across from her, Collonello laughed, slapping his hands on the desk in front of him at the hilarity of it all.

"You'll get used to it soon enough," Collonello managed through his laughter, "Reborn's always been known to be very _persistent_ when he wants something done."

Anastasia rolled her eyes, reaching out for her cup of chocolate. "What you meant is that he's a controlling jerk."

"Maybe," Collonello conceded with a shrug, "but he always knows what he's doing. It's the one thing all of us agree on."

The girl simply remained silent, but Collonello knew from the look in her eyes that she was thinking about his words.

"Anyways, think you'll be fine alone here? I have a meeting in about 5 minutes, but it shouldn't last long."

Grey eyes stared at him, deadpanned. "I'm sitting in the office of a _Sergeant Major_ , inside the main office of the _US army base_ with possibly guards at every turn. I'll be just peachy."

The blonde nodded, somehow completely serious. "Good, well then, I'm off!"

"Weirdos, the whole bunch of them." The girl muttered as she reached for another of her assignment paper. Half an hour had past before the girl moved to stretch her arms, pen clattering at the table.

'Guess, I'll just wander around a bit.' She thought, cracking her neck and hands as she stood.

However, it was then that the door creaked open.

Anastasia narrowed her eyes at the stranger who seemed to exclude an air of danger. "Who are you?"

The male grinned showing off rows of sharp teeth. "No one you need to concern yourself with, _yet_."

The girl simply stood stiffly, her posture defensive as her eyes began to glow orange. "What do you want then?"

He chuckled, "What I want is something simple. I want something that you have. I want you're blood."

"My blood." Anastasia repeated incredulously, "What couldn't get someone else with your blood type?"

The other simple chuckled, his eyes glowing orange as well. "Well, something of those lines."

Grey eyes widened with surprise before the girl quickly hurled a barrier up just as a dozen of knives embedded itself on the glowing orange dome.

"Not bad," the male commented, "with those reflexes no wonder you were called a prodigy."

"Not bad yourself," Anastasia replied, eyes locked on the opponent in front of her.

She stumbled as more knives embedded themselves to the dome that began to crack at the onslaught. The crashes seemed to have caught the attention of the nearby guards as they began knocking at the door.

"Ms, are you alright?!" One yelled.

Anastasia managed to shout out a "Get Collonello here! Hurry!" before her dome shattered fully. Quickly, the girl barrel-rolled to her left as knives soared over the spot she stood as the sound of faded footsteps echoed beyond the door.

Sending her own wave of magic shards, she continued to dodge and attack at intervals. Managing to make a few good hits even as she was hit by a few projectiles herself.

The battle continued in the same manner. When one attacked the other would dodge before it repeated.

Anastasia puffed out tiredly, her magic flickered as she grew tired.

"Getting tired already? And here I thought you were a prodigy."

The girl smirked at him through narrowed eyes, "This? This is just a warm up."

The male returned her smirk with one of his own, this one filled with malicious glee. "Well, as fun as this was I need to get going soon."

"You're welcome to leave," the girl retorted, " _without_ my blood."

"Ah, I'm afraid that's not an option."

Anastasia bit back a scream, as a knife embedded itself on her right shoulder. The girl fell backwards at the force and found found her eyes locked onto a pair of red. The last thing she saw before she slipped into a forced unconsciousness was the sight of bloody red eyes as he advanced towards her prone figure.

"I'll see you real soon, Ana. _Real soon_."

\-------------------

"-and that's the entire strategy." Collonello concluded before he turned to the observers behind him. "Any questions?"

Just as one of the men seated moved to question something on the plan when the door was banged opened harshly.

"Sergeant Major, there's terrible news!"

One of the seated generals stood to glare at the arriving soldier. "Can't you see that we're in the middle of something important here?!"

Collonello simply waved away the protest, "It's fine. What is it?"

"Your guest," the soldier huffed out through haggard breaths, "something is happening to her!"

The blonde's blue eyes widened in shock and the ever slight fear. "WHAT?! Why am I only informed now?!"

Rushing out the blonde barely said a word of dismissal before he was dashing through the halls, a single thought on his mind.

'Reborn is going to _murder_ me.'

His panic only grew at the sight of slight smoke emanating from behind the steel-framed wooden doors. 'Well, shit.'

The blonde nearly ripped the handle in his haste to open it. The sight of his destroyed room brought only more panic and fear, which only increased when he saw the girl unconcious propped up on the wall blood staining her clothes.

"Ana!"

\-------------------

Anastasia awoke to muffled noises and bright lights. She could easily pick out the familiar sound of Collonello's voice nearby.

"How is she?"

"She's stabilizing, but she'll have a hard time using her right arm for a while."

The girl tried to turn to her side, but simply released a pained groaned at the act. She laid back down in hopes of trying to lessen the pain when the sound of rushing feet came closer.

"Ana! You're awake!"

Anastasia tried to smile at the hovering blonde, but she supposed that it came out more like a grimace when the blonde simply frowned in concern. "Hey, Collonello. Don't look at me like that, I'm fine."

"You lost quite a lot of blood and cracked a few of your bones. There's no way your fine."

Anastasia sighed, "Okay, I'm _not fine_. But I will be."

"You hear that?" A female voice stated from behind the blonde. "She said she'll be fine, so stop hovering here and get back to your job."

The girl peered sideways to see blue hair, the woman wore a doctor's coat and held a clipboard. Looking rather professional despite the hard glare she sent to the blonde.

"Lallita Mirch at your service." She said, a smile on her face. "Took quite the damage didn't you?"

"Well, it does seem so. Oddly, I didn't feel a thing as it happened." Anastasia confessed smiling sheepishly.

The woman simple laughed, "It's the adrenaline, I assure you. After all, I speak from personal experience."

"Really?" The girl asked, surprised.

"Oh yeah, Lal here is a medical officer with experience of fighting and being on the battle field. She's even training recruits when she has nothing to do." Collonello interjected, slinging an arm around said woman's shoulder.

Lallita simply pinched his arm -ignoring the pained shouts of the blonde- as she smiled at the injured girl. "It's a small side hobby of mine."

"Anyways," the woman spoke, turning her attention towards the girl, "your shoulder should heal in a month or two. A month if you take the medicines regularly, for now I suggest not straining it and to simply exercise it lightly."

Anastasia nodded thankfully, "Thank you Lallita, sorry for the inconvenience."

The woman waved her apologies away, "This is nothing, I've handled much worse injuries and please just call me Lal."

Turning to the now wincing blonde, her features turned stony. "I expect you to be gone when I come back.

Collonello nodded hurriedly, and sighed in relief as the woman left. "I swear some days she always seems to only run on anger."

Anastasia stared as the blonde's eyes turned soft and affectionate, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"You like her." The girl commented, a smile on her own lips. "Lal, I mean."

The blonde spluttered, "What?"

Anastasia laughed at his expression which was a cross of 'being caught red-handed' and 'internally freaking out'. "It's on your face Collonello, you obviously like her."

"No, I don't." The blonde denied, despite the light flush on his face.

She simply continued to stare at him, an eyebrow raised neatly, had she been able to she would've crossed her arms to prove her point.

"Alright fine, maybe I _have_ a small crush on her." The blonde conceded.

"Small huh?" Anastasia said a disbelieving grin on her face.

"And that's my cue to leave." The blonde muttered striding out the doors. "Oh, by the way, Reborn's on his way here and he doesn't sound happy."

"When is he ever?" The girl scoffed, before a grin lit up her face and she called out towards the retreating blonde. "Don't think you've escaped! I will forever remember this moment!"

'Well, now to simply wait for the inevitable.' She thought as she shifted, making herself comfortable. 'Better nap till then."

The second time she awoke to the smell of coffee and the sight of a dark-clothed figure standing by the door.

"Hello, Reborn." The girl greeted as she sat up, rubbing at her eyes. "Have you been waiting long?"

"About an hour, you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you." The man replied, eyes hidden behind the brim of his fedora.

The girl hummed, "I see, what are you doing there though? You look like you're brooding more than usual."

The hitman remained silent even as he continued to approach the girl, expression still hidden from view. Grey eyes watched calmly as the man considered to be one of the most dangerous man in the world approached her.

"What's on your mind now, Renato?"

The man stopped by her side, calloused fingers gently brushing over he injured shoulder. "You were supposed to be _safe_ here. But here I am because Collonello called shouting about an attack, intruders and _blood_."

Anastasia sighed, a hand moving to grip Reborn's forcing it move away from her wound. "It's just a small wound, Lal even said that it would heal fast; probably won't even leave a scar."

" _Still_." The man insisted, obsidian eyes faintly shining with concern. "I sent you here because it was supposed to be safe. No one in their right mind would attack _a_ _military base_."

"Well, I wouldn't say that he was in his right mind." The teen replied, leaning back in her pillows having given up on trying to ease the hitman's concern.

Reborn scoffed at her, " _You_ weren't in your right mind either, I believe. Why would you stay to battle that guy _alone_? You could've summoned one of us!"

"Collonello was at a meeting and you had your job, I couldn't have just called you in that state!"

"That's exactly what contracts are for! If you didn't want to call us then you could've simply stalled for time until Collonello came!"

Anastasia stared at the man incredulously. "You wanted me to _wait_ when the guy wanted _my blood_?! Have you completely lost it?!"

Something she said must've struck a cord in him because the hitman stood stunned for a moment.

"He wanted your blood?" Reborn asked, voice quiet but laced with urgency.

"Yeah," the girl confirmed, "got all creepy over it too."

The hitman cursed -rather fluently and in italian- before he whipped out his cell, barking out as soon as the call was accepted. "It's me, I'm cashing in on my favour. Get me all the information you can get on them. And I mean _everything_."

"What is it? What does that guy wanting my blood mean?"

Anastasia frowned when Reborn simply remained silent. " _Renato_ , tell me what it means."

The man turned to face her, his face hard and eyes blazing with anger.

"It means that the government has finally made their first move."


	10. Counterattack

"So," Leonora commented casually as she handed Reborn a thick brown file, "why am I giving you this again?"

"Because I asked for it."

"Right." The woman intoned, settling herself across the broody hitman. "Why did you ask for it again?"

"Because, _obviously_ , I need these." Reborn replied, his tone implying that she was stupid for asking.

"What our dear lovely friend means is that," Collonello interjected before the woman could aim her stilettos towards the hitman, "why do you need them and why right now?"

For a while, Reborn didn't reply, eyes eagerly skimming through the papers. When he did, it was with a dark and dangerous glint in his eyes. "What better time than to counterattack than now? Besides it's always handy to have information on your opponent."

The only woman of the group stared at him pointedly, an eyebrow arched perfectly. "You're waging war on them? _Alone_? I thought Collonello had the job of being impulsive in this group."

Reborn scoffed, "Hardly. Like you aren't going to come with or without my acknowledgment."

"You got that one right." Collonello grinned, a sadistic and manic grin; one that looked so out of place given the blonde's usual happy-go-lucky demeanor. "Can't let my reputation go to waste after all."

Leonora snorted, "What reputation? The only reputation you remotely have is being the most impulsive and hot-headed Sergeant Major in both the written & non-written records."

"Who you calling hot-headed, old hag?!"

Purple eyes narrowed at the words, a visible frown on the woman's forehead. "You wanna go, blondie?!"

"Anyway," Aurelio interjected before the argument escalated into a fight, "It's pretty much clear that all of us will be participating in this. The question now is: What are we going to do?"

The three turned to look at the Chinese-oriented man, all three in various degrees of surprise, with Collonello being the most obvious; his mouth opened in a large 'O' shape. However, it was Reborn who spoke, his eyes lined with curiosity and slightest bit of distrust. 

" _You're_ coming along?"

Aurelio hummed, tipping his head back slightly in thought. "Yes, it has been too long since I did missions like these."

"Seriously?", Collonello questioned, in disbelief. "But, you don't even know Ana that well!"

"True," the silverette replied a small sly smile on his face, "but it's never too late to get to know someone. After all, she managed to get our cool-headed hitman into a state of frenzy; she's bound to be interesting."

Reborn 'tsked' in annoyance, "Don't even think about latching on to her, one stray eagle in enough, I don't need a stray fox as well."

"Don't or won't allow?" Collonello teased, a shark-like grin stretching across his mouth.

The blonde hurriedly ducked away from the shots before he cackled gleefully once more, instinctively he moved to run when the hitman was contemplating on getting up from his chair. Thankfully, Aurelio took pity on him and stepped in. "Honestly, stop acting like children and tell us your plan. We're wasting time and you need to go to Ms Anastasia's class soon lest she leave alone. _Again_." 

Reborn scowled but remained rooted to his seat, he skimmed over the last few papers before he handed them over to the silverette. "Make sure that you all memorize this before tonight, I'll be back after I ensure that the princess hasn't strained her healing arm."

"Just admit that you're worried about her and that you want to see her!" Collonello hollered from behind the opened kitchen door. 

Reborn tilted his fedora down and simply shoot another bullet at the blonde, this one lodging to the wall, inches away from his head. Collonello suppressed the high-pitch shriek that threatened to escape his throat. "That one almost got me, you ass!" 

"Be glad that I purposely missed." Reborn retorted back before the front door clicked shut.

\-------------------------------

"Will you stop it?!" 

The shout echoed slightly even through the crowded halls, various students turning to stare at the pair arguing in the middle. Some had looked vaguely amused while most had simply continued on their way after a quick glance, knowing all too well to stay clear of the arguing siblings.

Anastasia ran a tired hand through her dark strands, "I am not an invalid. I can carry my own books and bag. I don't need help to do basic everyday actions!"

Her brother stared at her unrepentant, "Your shoulder is injured. You can't move your entire right arm and you still insist on carrying those heavy books alone?"

The girl groaned, "It's not even that heavy or hard to carry. I'm fine."

Hadrian simply continued to stare at her, the look on his face stating that he didn't believe a word she spoke. "Sure, and I'm wearing a pink tutu."

"Well," Anastasia drawled, eyes trailing over her brother's form, "you never know."

"Y-You—I—What?" Her brother stammered, face flushing. Anastasia laughed at the sight, uninjured hand covering her mouth in an attempt to be polite despite only managing to partially cover up the giggles.

"I give up." Hadrian sighed, tiredly running a hand through his hair. "Where's Reborn? He's the only one who can deal with you when you get like this."

"Don't know. Don't care."

Green eyes stared at her in slight disbelief, "Did you leave without him _again_? He's gonna be pissed, you know that right?"

Anastasia huffed, wishing that she could cross her arms. "Jerk deserved it. Treating me like some porcelain doll. I can still do everyday things myself!"

"But, aren't you supposed to keep your injured arm unstrained?" Her brother questioned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"She is." A dark voice commented from a shadow just to the girl's right.

Anastasia jumped slightly, head twisting to the man emerging from the shadows with panicked eyes. "Well, shit."

Hadrian simply grinned, the sight of a slightly terrified Meister and an angry Miod isn't an everyday occurrence. "Here to take her to the dorms then, Reborn?"

The hitman nodded his way before he turned his dark eyes at the girl who was trying to edge away from the irate man. "And what were _you_ trying to do?"

"Uh, go to the dorms?" Anastasia replied, eyes wide and face so innocent that even Hadrian almost believed her, and _he_ had been the one to argue with her.

"Right." Reborn drawled, before he stretched out his arm. "Give me the bag and the books."

"No." The girl replied, pouting ever so slightly. "I don't need your help. I can do it just fine."

Glaring at the girl, the hitman wasted no more time and simply swiped away her books and bag in one hand before depositing them in a small whirlwind of shadows.

"Hey!" Anastasia cried out indignantly, reaching her good hand out towards the closing black mass. "Where did you throw those to? I actually need them you know!"

"If you listened to me, I wouldn't have to do that." Reborn retorted before he swung the girl up in one hand before cradling the girl like one would a child. "Now, come on. We're late for your check up and I really don't want Lal to get mad at me."

"Renato, you put me down right now or I swear to God—"

Ignoring her words, the hitman simply glanced back at the amused Hadrian who by the looks of it had been trying to hold in his laughter and stated. "She'll be back after dinner."

\-------------------------------

The blue haired woman swiveled on her chair at the feeling of dark magic, "You're here on time." she greeted as she took in the imposing form of the hitman and his Meister who was cradled against his form. "And in a somewhat bad mood I see."

Anastasia sighed, "Let's just get this over with, exams start soon."

"Sadly, I was just called out." The medic replied apologetically. "It shouldn't take long, I'll only be out for an hour at maximum. You can just stay here and sleep, after that incident Collonello's refined the patrols anyways.

The woman waved her patient towards the empty beds before she apologetically strode away, Anastasia simply waved away her apology as the medic left. As the door closed, the hitman strode towards the bed with long and confident strides before he deposited the girl onto the bed. Straightening up, the man flicked the girl softly on the forehead, eyes warning her to behave herself as the girl stuck her tongue out at him. "Be good for Lal, I'll be back in the afternoon to pick you up again."

"What am I a child? And where are you going? A hit?" 

Reborn turned his dark eyes to stare at the girl, an eyebrow raised in question. "Do you really want to know?"

Grey eyes stared at the man with trepidation and barely concealed suspicion, "On second thought, I'd rather not know."

The man smirked, tugging his fedora lower over his eyes before he turned to disappear into the shadows. 

"Have fun, Reborn." Anastasia bid absently, laying down on the bed, completely intending to nap while she waited for Lal to return. Due to this, she had missed the bloodthirsty smirk that crossed Reborn's face, a smirk that would make even the craziest of killers run away in fear.

"Don't worry. I will."

\-------------------------------

The mansion loomed over the lands, with an eerie presence, it's welcoming exterior a great contrast with the dark atmosphere that hung over the building. The mansion was heavily guarded with both physical and technological means, guards rotating over the premises like clockwork along with the 24/7 camera surveillance. From beyond the gates, hidden by the forest's cloak stood 4 figures, several of them visibly armed. 

"Is this the place?" Collonello questioned, eyes bright and wide, brimming with anticipation. "It looks promising, can I bomb them straight away then?" His comment was met with a swift hit to his head from Leonora, "Ow! What is it with you and hitting me woman?!"

"It's cause you were being stupid, like always." The woman huffed, fingers ghosting over the hidden daggers hidden all over her form. "We're trying to enter undetected and you just asked about bombing the entire place."

Collonello pouted childishly, "It was just a suggestion, no need to hit me that hard."

Reborn rolled his eyes at the two, gun held in hand at the ready. "Are you two done with your squabbling? We actually need to start heading in now if I am to get back in the afternoon. No use in alerting the princess right away after all."

Aurelio set out a small, surprised hum. "You're doing this without your Meister knowing?"

"I'm sure sooner or later, she would be aware of what I —well, technically _we_ — did and she would probably chew my ear off for it. But what she doesn't know, won't hurt her." From the tone of his voice, the _yet_ was left unsaid but understood by all. Shaking off his thoughts, the hitman began to move towards the shadows, ready to disappear into it's depths. "For now, we should focus on getting the information and retrieving the blood that was stolen. Blood is a powerful weapon to both humans and Mioddiavions."

Leonora allowed a maniacal smirk to grace her features, "Are we splitting up then?"

"Might as well," Collonello shrugged, "it would go much faster if we move in pairs or individually rather than in a big group. Especially if we plan to search out every inch of the place."

"Who's going with who then?" Leonora questioned, a hand on her hip. "We'll probably need two teams; one to distract and one to retrieve information."

"In that case, I propose that both Collonello and Reborn stay in the retrieval team." Aurelio stated, hands hidden beneath the large sleeves. "This will hopefully, put Anastasia away from suspicions; seeing as that people already know that she is your Meister. If they see you attacking now, they'll assume that she told you to."

Reborn furrowed his eyebrows in thought, "I guess you're right, but can you see this big oaf being sneaky and quiet?" The hitman questioned jabbing a thumb towards where the blonde stood.

"Oi! I resent that!" Collonello shouted back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I _so_ can be quiet and sneaky when I am want to be."

Leonora snorted into her hand "Maybe when pigs fly," face purposely turned away from the blonde's sight.

"Why you—"

"Okay, that's enough." Aurelio stated in a voice that stated that he meant business. "How about a compromise then? Leonora will go with Reborn and Collonello will go with me. We'll just need to use disguises, so that the opponents will be unable to see our features."

There were various sounds of agreement before there was a swift movement of magic against the air, before the four of them were cloaked in darkness; literally in Reborn's case. The four of them shared minute nods before they leapt towards the grounds, two in the direction of the main gate as the other two disappeared into the shadows.

\-------------------------------

"I have a bad feeling that those guys are up to nothing good."

Lal glanced at the girl laying on the bed with an amused smile on her face, "How do you know that ?" she questioned before turning her gaze back towards the medical report that just came through.

Anastasia shrugged —at best as she could while not actually moving— turning her head to look at her now somewhat personal doctor. "It's just a gut feeling that I have."

"Well, you never know, both of them might just be having a late lunch together."

Grey eyes stared into blue, their expression incredulous. "You do remember that this is Reborn and Collonello we are talking about? The day these two decided to play nice with each other without any murder occurring is the day hell freezes over."

The woman stared down at her report, even as her shoulders shook in laughter. Anastasia pouted at her, "This is not funny okay!" The girl turned away to stare despondently at the ceiling, sighing tiredly. "The last time they played nice with each other, the media were all over news for me that until today I can still see some of them lingering behind the school gates."

"If you're so worried then why don't you check up on them?" The woman suggested, idly flinging the hand that held onto the reports. "You've contracted them haven't you? Just make use of the link you have."

Anastasia stared at the woman like it was the first time she saw her, had she been able to move her right arm she would have face palmed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"It's easy to forget these things especially when your Miods can come and go as they please." The woman replied, hiding a small smile as the girl grumbled about those who have no respect to personal privacy before the girl grew silent. Anastasia allowed her eyes to close as she tried to probe around the link that she shared with her Miods, slowly she came upon two different coloured threads. One a brilliant sky blue while the other was pitch black, both had a slight golden tint to them. Tentatively, the girl pulled at the black thread, allowing her thoughts to push through the link. 

_"Reborn? Can you hear me?"_

The hitman's response was quick and the girl could practically the smirk on his face as he spoke. _"Finally decided to use the link, huh?"_

_"Shut up Renato, I've never done this before okay."_ The girl retorted, mentally rolling her eyes. The hitman's chuckle resounded in her head, before his question came. _"So? What is it you wanted?"_

_"Just wanted to know what you're up to, I had a feeling that something bad is happening."_

There was a slight pause before Reborn's reply came through. _"What? You don't trust me?"_

_"If we're being honest here; then yes."_

_"You're so cruel princess, you wound me."_

Anastasia sighed tiredly, _"Just answer me truthfully, are you or are you not up to something bad?"_

_"Well, that depends on what you count 'bad' as."_ Reborn replied.

Anastasia opened her mouth to reply when the ringing sounds of gunshots and shouts, before Reborn was cursing in italian. _"Reborn,"_ the girl stated urgently, voice a mixture of concern and annoyance, _"where the are you right now?"_

_"Nowhere, we're all just out for lunch."_ The hitman replied, it would have been convincing if it wasn't for the sounds coming from the background.

_"Renato."_

_"Well, we need to go now. I'll be there later to pick you up later."_

Anastasia scowled, tugging harshly at the thread as she shrieked. _"Renato Sinclair! You get back here and tell me what you are up to right now!"_

Lal watched with amusement as a frown crossed the silent girl's face. Somehow she was sure that Reborn had said something that displeased his Meister. Slowly the girl opened her eyes, a dark scowl on her face that stayed as she severed the link. "I take it that it was bad news then?"

"They are in _so_ much trouble."


	11. Obscure Revelations

" _What is this?_ "

A sharp rustling of paper drew Reborn's gaze away from his cup of coffee. Dark eyes taking notice of the iritated girl in front of him and the slight crackle of magic in the air. Slowly, the man gulped down the last of his drink before he spoke. "It's a newspaper, you know the one people read every morning."

"I know it's a newspaper Renato." Anastasia said through gritted teeth. "What I want to know is about what's written on the front page."

Moving forwards slightly, the girl pushed the papers towards the man. A finger tapping at the large headlines of "Italian Massacre; Mafia Troubles?".

Reborn simply stared back at her with unreadable eyes. "And I play a part in this how?"

"Really, Renato?" Anastasia stated, rubbing at her forehead tiredly. "We all know that you and the others did this. Just yesterday in fact."

The hitman shut his eyes briefly, but they opened they looked like ice. "And?" He drawled out, leaning on the armchair; looking every bit as dangerous as he really is. "What do you want me to do? Go to the police and say it was me? Apologize for what I did?"

The girl stared back at him unflinching, despite the cold stare. "You know that's not what I mean." Crossing her arms over her chest, the girl leaned back slightly to look straight at his dark eyes. "This was a stupid move and _you_ know it."

Reborn's eyes narrowed, and a snarl formed at his lips. "A stupid move? _This_ was a stupid move? _No_. _This_ is a statement."

"A statement for what?!" Anastasia finally yelled out in frustration, hands unconsciously tugging at her dark locks. "It does nothing but bring attention to you, to me, to all of us!"

"It's a statement to the world!" The man retorted, his own voice rising as he stood. "It's a statement that _no one_ hurts what's mine without facing consequences."

This finally caused the girl to flinch, her entire body trembling ever so slightly. "I am not yours, Renato. A contract does not work that way."

The man simply prowled towards her with a deadly grace. "But _you are_ _mine_. The symbol on our arms proves it and so does that feather hanging from your neck"

Grey eyes widened, and instinctually her right hand twitched. There was a flash of movement and before she was aware of it, her wrist was grasped by a larger hand. A thumb gently swiping over the black raven mark and her gaze flickered from the hand clasping her wrist to his face.

"A contract does not make me yours, Renato." Anastasia retorted, wrenching her wrist away forcibly.

The girl took several steps back, as if to distance herself from an incoming attack. "Don't." She intoned forcefully once he began to move towards her again. "Just don't. I need time to think."

With those words, the girl turned and disappeared in a swirl of orange mists.

\-------------------------------

Leonora watched as the most elusive and feared hitman of the current age stared blankly into space. The man sat in his usual armchair, a cup of coffee in hand like always. However, his usual air of cool aloofness was replaced with barely reigned panic.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" The woman questioned, carding a hand through her purple locks.

Reborn spared her a short glance, "Nothing. I'm fine."

"That's complete bullshit and you know it." Leonora snorted, lightly crossing her arms as she leaned back against the kitchen island. "You're mood scared Collonello away from the house for 3 days straight."

"I'm quite sure that he stayed at work because of his crush on that doctor."

"That's just a bonus that he got for avoiding you." The woman replied, deadpaned. The man scoffed before he turned to stare into his cup of cooling coffee once more.

Leonora finally threw her hands up in desperation. "Get out."

Reborn blinked his eyes at her in surprise and confusion. "What?"

"You heard me." The woman replied, tapping her foot impatiently against the marble floors. "Get out and don't come back until you've sorted out your mood. It's ruining the day for all of us."

When the hitman showed no signs of moving or responding to her words, Leonora huffed, reaching out to grip the man's arm and physically dragged him towards the front doors. "Oi, what are you doing, you crazy woman?!" The hitman growled out, flailing his free arm to grab his fedora off the table before they got too far.

"I'm making you leave the house, the atmosphere needs to be aired out from your gloominess." Leonora replied, somehow managing to drag the struggling hitman before she pushed him out the doors with finality. Reborn glared at her, eyes promising retribution however, used to it, the woman simply placed a hand on her hips as the other one made shooing motions. "Just go do something, drink coffee in Italy, go on a hit. _Just go away_ and don't come back until your mood is better."

The door shut behind her as she went inside, leaving the hitman gaping slightly in the front porch. Shrugging, the man moved to enter the house again, just as his feet crossed the gate purple sparks burst from the air.

"What the hell?" Reborn questioned quietly before he glance upwards and shouted. "What the heck did you do, you old hag?!"

"I placed a barrier that won't let you in until at least 7 pm!" Leonora hollered back through the window. "And for the record, you're older than I am! So suck it!"

Reborn scowled, muttering a soft "Crazy hag" under his breath before he disappeared into a whirlwind of shadows. Narrowly dodging the silver dagger that came towards him from the upper window.

"I heard that you ass!"

\-------------------------------

"Arghh, that man frustrates me so much that at times I wished I could strangle him."

Hadrian watched with tired eyes as his sister paced around her room, mumbling to herself at times while her hands clenched and unclenched periodically as if she couldn't control the muscles in them. The younger teen rolled over to his back, deary green eyes staring at the upside-down view of his sister's pacing. "You have to admit that it's not that bad of a plan, what they did."

The girl turned to look at him, her eyes blazing. "Are you agreeing with them?"

The teen quickly retreated, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. He forgot just how scary his sister could be when she was crossed. "No-I mean yes-uh, no- er, I really don't know how to phrase it in a way that you won't get angrier."

"Just say it."

Hadrian grimaced, gulping harshly. "Well, it was not such a bad idea. Especially recounting how the enemy had your blood sample with them. In fact, it would be one of the best strategies they could have used to either retrieve or destroy the sample completely."

Anastasia plopped down on her armchair, elbow perched on the armrest as she leaned her cheek against her fist. Her eyes were glowing a dim orange as she spoke, "The entire thing makes no strategic sense, especially when they knew that directly attacking them would simply bring attention from unwanted people."

"Actually, you might not even get any attention from it at all."

The girl frowned, "Explain."

Her brother sat up, crossed-leg on the bed, his eyes calm and controlled. "Well, from the reports the place attacked belonged to a family particularly known for their ties with the mafia. They don't have that good of a social reputation either, it could be easy to assume that someone simply hired assassins to take them out."

"I guess people could assume that, especially since it's well-known that Reborn freelances as a hitman." Anastasia mused, "But that wouldn't explain how the others agreed to it would they? Maybe Leonora would, seeing as she's an assassin anyways. But a Sergeant Major?"

"I'm guessing that they took measures to prevent any recognition," her brother suggested, "they probably didn't use any of their magic except for the explosions."

The girl sighed, hands rubbing at her temple in hopes to keep the headache at bay. "I really wished they weren't so impulsive and so battle thirsty."

Hadrian snorted, "Can you _actually_ imagine them being sensible and reasonable? Especially Reborn? That man practically lives for chaos." His eyes grew solemn before he continued, "Besides, I'm pretty sure that there is no one who knows the value of blood more than the Miods."

"Ah, the Blood Massacre huh?" Anastasia murmured, head leaning against the chair behind her. "The first battle between the Ancient Mioddiavions and the human race."

Hadrian nodded, just as deep in thought as she was. "They were lucky to have won that, if they didn't then who knows how life would be now." Anastasia scoffed derisively from her spot across the room, "They only won because they had miraculously injured the Miods greatest weapon."

"The Angel of Chaos; Azazel, right?"

Anastasia hummed noncommittally, her eyes gaining a faraway look. "The books stated that she was one of the most powerful Miods the human race had ever encountered. Where she went, chaos followed and soon death."

Hadrian frowned, "If she was that great, how did she lose?"

"She didn't."

Her brother blinked, eyes portraying his confusion. "But didn't you said that she was injured?"

The girl nodded, "I did say that she was injured, but I never said anything about her losing." Crossing her legs the girl smiled at the confused look her brother had, and continued. "The angel Azazel was indeed injured, but her type of Miods are special in the way that they don't die; they reincarnate."

Anastasia watched as her brother's eyes lit up in understanding and recognition. "Wait, so you're saying that..."

"The human race simply wounded her enough to force her into her reincarnation cycle before taking the baby that was born from the fire." The girl finished, her face devoid of any emotion. "With her out of the way, the other Miods didn't last long."

Hadrian stayed silent for a while, his eyes downcast. When the clouds rolled over the sky; covering the sun and casting a dark shadow on them, he finally spoke.

"What happened to the child?"

Anastasia closed her eyes, "Who knows? She might be forced into experimentation, continued reincarnation, anything that the government can think of really."

"What if she's alive now?" Her brother questioned once more, voice unsure and slightly shaky.

"Then the government -no, the entire human race- will have problems, because where she goes, _chaos_ follows."

\-------------------------------

Anastasia felt her feet land on solid ground, opening her eyes she could see the fading orange flames before the sight of purple skies and blue grass greeted her. The girl sighed, running a hurried ran over her dark hair before she stepped forwards intent on getting the ordeal over with. She still remembered the conversation that led her to coming back here, her brother really did take after her in terms of stubbornness.

_"Now that you know that the plan has its merits, you should apologize to Reborn." Her brother stated firmly, arms crossed over his chest._

_Anastasia stared at him with a disbelieving expression on her face, "Have you hit your head somewhere I don't know? Why on earth would_ _**I** _ _apologize to_ **_him_ ** _?"_

_"You were the one who jumped to conclusions before he even informed you of why he did it, weren't you?"_

_"I bet he wasn't even planning on telling me if I hadn't came to him first." Anastasia grumbled petulantly, acting much like a child who was told that there would be no desserts. Her brother gazed bemusedly at the picture his normally mature sister made. "Can't believe the day would come where our roles are reversed."_

_Shaking his head, the younger teen nudged the girl towards the doors. "Just go and apologize, you're his Meister, you should be more mature."_

_"He's the one who has more years on me, he should be the one to realize it first." The girl muttered, despite the fact that she's reaching for her jacket. Hadrian moved to say something again when the girl conceded, "Fine, fine, I'm going. If only to stop your nagging."_

The girl sighed, honestly, her brother was way too concerned about her life that it gets tiring at times. She was just nearing the tree where she had met Reborn for the first time when the link between her and the hitman flared to life. It had grown since the time she tried to talk to him using it, though it wasn't the only change that happened. She was now more in tune with both her current Contracts, case in point when she could practically feel Collonello's current emotions as well; he was unusually giddy.

'Reborn must be nearby then, huh.' Anastasia thought, as she continued to hike up the rather steep hill. "Reborn? Are you th-" The question died in her throat at the sight.

There at the base of the large tree was Reborn. Sprawled on the blue grass, one hand on his side; in close reach on his gun while the other was atop the fedora covering his face. He seemed to be asleep but with Reborn, you never know. Carefully, Anastasia approached the man, taking care so that her footsteps weren't heard. Rationally, she knew that she could have used her magic, but with his reflexes the man would be more attune to magic than physical means; so walking it is.

"Honestly, what kind of person just sleeps here where anyone can just attack them?" Anastasia murmured quietly as she neared the man. Slowly, she kneeled beside the man's head, back resting against the tree's trunk. When the hitman showed no signs of awakening, the girl carefully pulled off the fedora placing it on the patch of grass next to her.

Sighing fondly, the girl took advantage of the peaceful moment to observe the resting man. Without his usual air of alertness and the glaring of his eyes, Reborn looked younger; passing for someone in his late teens. Smiling gently, the girl couldn't resist the urge to pet at the hitman's black locks and carefully ran her fingers over them, pulling and tugging softly at certain strands once in a while.

"Really, what am I going to do with you," Anastasia whispered softly as she stroked through the raven hair, "You bring me so much trouble; maybe even more than what you're worth." Sighing, the girl leaned back against the trunk, head tilted upwards to watch as the clouds rolled lazily through the purple sky. "But I doubt that I'll ever regret meeting you."

Grey eyes turned downwards, their gaze full of affection and fondness as the girl leaned to place a soft fleeting kiss on the man's forehead. "Sleep well, Renato."

The hitman furrowed his eyebrows at the action, dark eyes still tinged with sleep blinking open groggily. Immediately they gazed up at the girl's figure and a soft, faint murmur escaped his lips.

"Aza"


	12. The World's Strongest Seven

It was one of those times, when he drifted in and out of consciousness and unconsciousness. When he was groggy with sleep but alert at the same time. Years of experience had him picking out the soft footsteps approaching and despite the habit of reaching for his weapon the hitman laid still. His instincts telling him that the person meant no harm to him, that he was safe. Besides, he could always stop any attacks later.

There was a soft rustling of the grass by his head and despite his urge to tense the man kept his posture relaxed, his faintly clenching hand the only indicator of his unease. Minutes passed in silence and Reborn allowed his hand to settle back calmly.

Soft murmurs floated with the wind before a hand began carding through his hair. The man had to push down his urge to lean into the hand, as it alternated in smoothing down his hair and tugging at the curly sideburns that framed his face.

It was warm, a feeling he scarcely felt ever since _she_ was gone. The comfort of somebody being next to you replaced with the instinct to survive for another day. Even now, he holds those memories close. Of days filled with laughter and the warm presence of _her_ being near.

The soft, fleeting peck on his forehead came as a surprise. The feeling that came with it on the other hand was so achingly familiar that he had instinctively murmured out her name. In a voice so quiet and tender, ringing with unsaid emotions.

"Are you awake Renato?"

Slowly, he blinked his dark eyes opened, staring up as the inky black leaves flowed with the wind. Stretching his neck-while at the same time pushing towards the hand on his hair- he took brief notice of the girl sitting by him before closing his eyes once more, letting out a small hum. "How are you here?"

"You know, there's is ability called 'magic' and with it you can make this thing called a 'portal'. It's really handy to have if you need to travel and it has a really pretty colour."

The man was silent for a moment, before he sat up, turned towards the girl and flicked her in the forehead. Hard.

"Ow!" The girl flinched, moving her hands to rub at the slightly red on her forehead. Grey eyes stared upwards, accusing and just a bit hurt. "What was that for?"

"For the sass." The man replied, voice still rough with sleep. He sat back down and moved to lay once more, this time however, his head was placed comfortably on her lap. "That's not what I mean and you know it."

Anastasia rolled her eyes, lowering her hands to place one on her side as a support while the other was placed gingerly on top of the black strands. "You should be more specific then."

The man gave a small hum, nudging slightly at the motionless hand on his hair before he closed his eyes with a sigh as it moved pet at his hair.

The girl stared at the man who was using her lap as a pillow with amusement. "Who knew that the dark, scary Reborn was much like a cat when he's sleepy."

"You tell anyone and I'll kill you." The man grumbled lightly, but there was a semblance of a promise and the slightest threat in his words. He might just not kill her but some retribution would need to be given.

Anastasia gave a small shake of her head, laughing lightly even as her hands continued their motions. "I'm sure you will. No one else knows then?" The man was silent then and the girl simply took that as a silent 'Yes' and simply continued to thread her hand through the man's hair; it was surprisingly soft despite it's spiky appearance.

"One other knows." The sudden words spooked her and it was only due to Reborn's weight on her lap that she jump. The girl blinked and tilted her head downwards to stare at the hitman. "Knows about your little nap habits? Who?"

The man opened his eyes, black staring into grey. "Someone dear." The girl hummed, eyes widening slightly in astonishment before she leaned back. "I really need to meet them then."

After that the two rested in companionable silence, both watching as the red sun fell below the the towering buildings of the city that were beginning to light up. The girl gave a tired sigh, her hand on the ground clenching slightly. "I'm sorry, for the way I reacted, I should have listened first instead of drawing my own conclusions. But I'm not sorry for yelling at you."

Reborn glanced up at his Meister, dark eyes taking in the small furrow of her eyebrows and the determined glint in her eyes even as her body was locked tight. The man nodded, and turned back to watch the sun finally set.

"..I'm sorry too. For making you worry."

A bright smile spread on the girl's face and she teasingly poked at his cheeks. "Sorry, couldn't hear you. Can you say it again?"

The man grabbed her wrist, halting her attempt to poke at his cheek. Glancing slightly at the still beaming girl he uttered out a slightly petulant "No." as he sat up, one hand still clenching a pale wrist. Grabbing his fedora and placing it on his head, he stood, pulling the girl upwards at the same time. "C'mon, you're cooking tonight."

"Who's turn is it tonight?"

"Mine."

The girl whined, "It's your turn to cook, so why am I the one cooking?"

The man arched an eyebrow at her, mocking and smug at the same time. "You're sorry aren't you?"

"Not that sorry, I'm not." The girl retorted pulling at her wrist, "Anyways, let go, I'm going home."

"You're cooking." The man stated with finality, grip hardening not enough to hurt but enough so that she can't break loose.

"I am not! Stop dragging me Renato!"

\-------------------------------

It was a bright, sunny day and the faint chirping of birds were heard even through the room. Sprawled on the couch was Anastasia, her phone in hand as she tried to beat her previous high score on a game. In the center of the room was Collonello; the blonde was ruffling through the papers strewn on his desk with the accuracy of a typhoon.

"Hey, Collonello, is there anyone Reborn holds dear?"

The blonde barely glanced up from the papers as he spoke. "Ah, probably Aza."

The girl perked up at the name, "You say Aza as in Azazel? Like the crazy strong, angel Azazel?"

"Is there any other Azazel out there?" The blonde questioned, tone equal parts of confusion and rhetorical. "Huh, might have to check on that."

"Are you telling me that you and Reborn knew Azazel?" The girl repeated, curling up on the couch, eyes bright and wide with disbelief and curiosity.

"Knew her?" Collonello repeated, grinning victoriously at her. "I spent years living with her. She was our boss; the one who held all of us together." The blonde blinked at the confusion expression painted on the girl's face. "Didn't you know about this?"

Anastasia shook her head in slight stupor, "Reborn never said anything and there was nothing on you guys back in the academy."

The blonde blinked before his eyes lit up with understanding. "Right, I forgot that Aurelio burnt every book that had details on us ages ago."

The girl grinned, her body literally buzzing in spot at her excitement. "Tell me _everything_ , what's she like? Was she that good? What could she do?"

Collonello laughed, "Whoa, calm down Princess." The blonde grinned at the girl's pout before he relented. "Well, first I better explain about us —the Arcobaleno— in general."

Anastasia leaned forwards slightly in her spot on the couch intently listening to the blonde.

"Well, the Arcobaleno consists of 7 members. We were called the ' _I Prescelti Sette'_ , in english it means 'The World's Strongest Seven'. We were all selected due to the power we each held in the different elements and other abilities. Like how Reborn is the strongest of the darkness element Mioddiavions and yet excels in healing."

Anastasia gaped, "Wait, _Reborn_ excels in _healing_?"

The blonde blinked his blue eyes at her, "Didn't you know? Despite his element, out of all of us, Reborn also has the strongest regeneration abilities."

Grey eyes widened in disbelief, "No way."

"Way." The blonde repeated, an amused smirk on his face.

"So, he really is the World's Greatest Hitman?"

Collonello nodded, a slight grimace on his face. "As much as I hate to admit it, it's true. He got that title after a year of taking the hitman job, decades before the Arcobaleno was even formed."

Anastasia was fairly certain that by now she would always be in a state of constant shock especially with the way these information presented themselves. "There are 7 of the Arcobaleno members?"

"Yup," The blonde confirmed, "there's Aza, Reborn, Nora, Aurelio, Verde, Vivien and me."

"Who's Verde and Vivien?"

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he recalled his memories. "Verde is regarded as the World's Greatest Scientist and he's..somewhere; I'm not sure. Vivien on the other hand is the World's Greatest Illusionist, I think she's in Italy right now; working for an assassin group."

Anastasia tilted her head upwards in thought. "Are they Miods with jobs in the actual world like all of you?"

The blonde smirked, "Oh course, Verde is of the lighting element and Vivien the air. Only Miods can be chosen as an Arcobaleno."

The girl hummed thoughtfully, "Are all your works related to the underworld?"

"Mostly." The blonde stated, shrugging. "After decades of fighting, you can't exactly get used a normal job or gain easy access to one. At least this way we get ensure that our skills don't get rusty."

"How do you make everyone believe you're not a Miod? Doesn't it take a lot of energy to maintain a human form?" Anastasia questioned after several moments of silence.

"It usually does." The blonde confirmed, nodding his head. "But as I said, we _are_ the strongest Miods there are, therefore we have more power and energy. Of course, we also have human documents —they're fakes though— like birth certificates that gets renewed every few years and stuff like credit cards."

Anastasia blinked her grey eyes, in surprise and slight amusement. "Are you telling me that you've essentially hid yourselves as humans for thousands of years through forgery?"

The blonde's grin spoke of nothing and everything at the same time. The girl groaned lightly, placing her head in her hands tiredly as the blonde laughed boisterously.

"We even have houses here and there you know." Collonello stated, before he broke out in laughter at the look Anastasia had. "What else were we supposed to do with the money we earned?"

"I don't know." The girl stated throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Buy clothes? Food? Get a hobby?"

The blonde stared at her, expression deadpan. "We did. Reborn's suits, Nora's dresses, Aurelio's authentic and rare book collection, and even all our weapons. We still had tons left."

"I think I'm going to regret asking this," the girl began hesitantly, "but how many houses do you have?"

Collonello crossed his arms and shut his eyes, face scrunching slightly as he tried to think of the amount. "Hmm, you know, I'm not exactly sure but we all each have some individually and some as a group." The blonde turned sideways to stare at the map pinned to the wall by his desk before he spoke once more. "I'm pretty sure we had a mansion under Aza's name in Italy, Reborn owns a condo somewhere near there too. Nora has like a hotel somewhere in France, and Vivien owns both a casino and a hotel in Las Vegas. I have a condo in New York? —I'm pretty sure it's New York—, and Verde has a few places scattered; if I recall there's one in both Germany and Russia. There's more but I don't really remember them."

Anastasia gaped at the sheer amount of places, "Do you even spend time there?"

"Rarely, usually we all just stay in the usual mansion in ShadowVales and pop in there occasionally when doing a job or when we want to." The blonde answered.

"Does anyone ever go there to simply clean the place?"

"There's never any need to." The blonde said, shrugging. "We all have people or as Reborn calls them, 'lackeys' to do it for us. The mansions are equipped with 24/7 servants and security measures too."

Anastasia resisted the strong urge to face palm before sighing resignedly. "Why do _I_ get the crazy ones?"

"Hey! We aren't crazy!" The blonde protested, scowling lightly. "If you want crazy, you should see some of Verde's experiments or Vivien's money grabbing habits. That girl charges you for breathing air next to her to her. _Breathing!_ "

Anastasia watched as the blonde muttered to himself. Something about being money-minded, creepy snakes and vowing to get revenge. The girl was determined to rethink her decisions in getting contracts if all her Miods were going to end up like them.

"What about the others? What categories do you, Leonora and Aurelio fall into?"

"Nora's the World's Greatest Assassin, Aurelio's the World's Greatest Martial Artist and I'm the World's Greatest Soldier." The blonde stated, tone slightly smug at the end.

Anastasia nodded absently as she tried to take in the information before she tilted her head in question. "If Leonora is the assassin then why is Vivien the one working with an assassin group?"

"Nora prefers to work alone, mainly receiving jobs from her handler like Reborn does. While Vivien works as damage control, with stuff like disguises and hiding the carnage but she mainly works on the financial aspects."

Grey eyes blinked in slight stupor, once more. "The _best illusionist_ in the _world_ is working at an assassin group as an _accountant_?" The girl questioned, disbelief coating her words.

"Ana, there are 3 things that Vivien loves in this world. Money, blackmail and debts. In that order." The blonde stated, voice deadpan. "To some lesser extent, Aza, but that's all. Vivien never does anything that she can't make a profit out of. Sides' her pays high, so she's not complaining."

The girl let out a small noise of disbelief, leaning her head on the sofa seats as if it weighed tons. "Do you all have crazy habits and antics?"

Collonello hummed thoughtfully, "Probably, I think."

Anastasia simply let out a small tired sigh, as if resigning herself to the worst. "Anything else I should probably know about?"

"Know about what?"

The voice spoke directly behind her causing the girl to jump slightly in her seat before whipping her head around, eyes and hand glowing a bright orange. Collonello was no better, having reached for his guns by the desk drawers. He was currently aiming them at an amused hitman who stood behind the girl, dark eyes glinting.

"Jeez, Reborn." Anastasia muttered, a hand on her chest to steady her breathing. "Don't startle us, we could've had attacked you."

The man smirked, "Like I'd get hit."

Anastasia huffed, the glow in her eyes and hand disappearing as Collonello stashed away his guns. It was then that she took notice of Reborn's new addition. The girl blinked before peering closer to the black fedora. "Reborn, what's that?"

Perched on the hat's brim was a bright green lizard, quite small in size with slitted yellow eyes. The man glance upwards, and held out a hand towards the insect for it to perch on. "This is Leon; my animal companion, a chameleon."

Anastasia blinked in surprise, "That's a chameleon? Not a lizard?"

"Why would you think it's a lizard?"

The girl stared up at the man incredulously, before emitting a soft squeak as Leon hopped onto her shoulder. The lizard stared at her unblinkingly from his current perch before he curled up on her neck contently.

"Er, a little help?" The girl asked, tone slightly pleading as she stared at the chameleon—she's still not fully convinced that he's a chameleon—curled on her neck.

The man rolled his eyes, " _Leon_." He spoke his companion's name as he reached outward, calling for the creature to return to his side. Except Leon didn't. The chameleon refused to budge, instead tightening his grip around the girl's skin. In an act of defiance, Leon took one look at his master before turning to the side as if pouting, clearly disobeying his order. Reborn 'tched'. "Leon, release her."

Still, the chameleon refused and gave a lick against the teen's soft exposed skin. Anastasia giggled softly, reaching up to scratch the underside of Leon's chin affectionately. "Now, that's not nice. Come now, return to your owner." Leon simply closed his eyes and rubbed against the warm flesh of her neck, almost looking like he was going to purr. "Or I guess not."

Finally the girl settled back on the couch with a small chameleon wrapped securely on her neck. Absentmindedly, the girl reached to scratch the underside lf the chameleon's chin once more. "So, I'm guessing that he doesn't do this to everyone."

Reborn nodded silently, staring at his chameleon in contemplation. "He's never been this fond on someone he just met, mostly he hisses at those who are dangerous and stays on my hat."

"Easy for you to say," came Collonello's holler from his corner of the room, "you're not the one who gets bitten!"

Reborn rolled his dark eyes, "He's a small chameleon, don't be such a baby."

"A small _magical_ chameleon who _shape shifts_ and _makes weapons_!"

Anastasia stared at the innocent looking chameleon. "You shape shift?" As if understanding her question Leon shifted into a green necklace before shifting back to his animal form. "Well, I guess that answers it."

Reborn huffed, "You go on about my chameleon being magical but isn't it the same with your falcon?"

"Hey! You leave _Arma_ out of this!"

Anastasia rolled her eyes, well used to their antics by now. "Does everyone have animal companions?"

Reborn shrugged, "Leonora doesn't but aside from her I believe so. Aurelio has a monkey, Verde has an alligator and Vivien has a snake."

"An alligator?"

"Yeah, you know like the ones you find in a swamp and everything."

"An _alligator_?" Anastasia repeated incredulously.

Collonello rolled his eyes at her, "It's fine, he's tame. Well, as tame as an alligator can get."

The girl let out a light groan, feeling Leon purr against her as if to offer her comfort. Anastasia sighed lightly, scratching the chameleon's chin indulgently.

"I repeat, why me?"


	13. Extra - Its Always Good To Have Pets

The Arcobaleno house had a reputation of being deadly to intruders despite most of it's occupants being out.

Not many would believe in those rumors. Especially when regarding the fact that the house's occupants are away and the house is empty. So, every so often many of their enemies would continue to infiltrate the house in hopes that they might find something -anything, really- that would give them a leverage against the group.

One particular incident was particularly memorable.

It happened a few days before Christmas, on a clear winter day. Everyone in the industry knew that during the days leading to Christmas, the members of Arcobaleno would be out. It was a well-known fact that Christmas was one of the times they would all get together and therefore they would always clear schedules beforehand; if they had them.

That was exactly why a group of 20 men; dressed in black and armed, were sneaking in through the empty building.

"Boss," one of the men whispered as they walked through the silent hallway. "why are we being so stealthy? No ones here right?"

"Idiot!" The man bellowed back softly. "Everyone who knows the rumors also knows that even empty this house is deadly."

"But so far it looks just like an empty house!"

Indeed, the house looked relatively normal; like how a regular house should look like. There were no booby traps, intruder alarms or anything of the sort. Halfway through the house the entire group had wondered how the rumor of the house being deadly even began.

They were too early in their assumptions.

"Alright men," the leader stated, voice still lowered, "we're in their personal wings now. Once we enter we start the search, all men ready?!"

The group straightened themselves, "Yes Sir!"

Slowly, the door creaked opened and the group entered only to pause in disbelief at the sight they were exposed to.

The room; a sitting room by the looks of it, was decorated lavishly. The wall across the door was replace with a floor-to-ceiling window covered with dark red curtains. A large rectangle oak table was set in the middle of the room surrounded by a large cream sofa and several matching armchairs. There was a large fireplace across the sofa complete with a large white rug. Several paintings were hung up around the walls and a few vases of flowers were perched on matching singular tables around the room.

What made them stop in their tracks was the fact that the room was definitely _occupied_. There settled on the sofa was a girl; a sleeping girl with her back against one side and head lolling against the sofa frame. A familiar green chameleon was settled on her neck and in her loose arms being hugged like a regular plush toy was a white monkey. A large alligator laid on the floor by the sofa and a snake was curled up by her feet, eyes peering at them over its coils.

The group stared, until one finally managed to utter in disbelief. "What the hell?"

4 pairs of eyes turned collectively at the group, and despite being larger in size and amount the men felt shivers. The animals stared at each other as if in contemplation before they nodded in unison.

In morbid fascination the group of armed men watched as the chameleon shifted to form a pair of comfortable green coloured headphones with it's regular yellow eyes peering from the band. Once it was securely placed on the girl; they _actually_ waited to see, the animals turned to them.

"Uh, boss." One of the man said, voice just slightly higher than a normal pitch. "Don't you think that we should do something?"

The leader scoffed, eyes gleaming with greed. "Forget them, what can they do; they're _animals_? Besides, think just what kind of leverage we could get by using that girl. I never knew that someone other than a member of the Arcobaleno even lives here, she might be someone important to all of them or at least to one of them. Even after that I'm sure that she could fetch a good price at the markets."

"Uh, boss, I think you should stop talking about the girl now."

The man scowled, his face twisting hideously. "And _why_ should I?"

"Because those animals are looking absolutely murderous at you."

The man turned his head, only to see the 4 animals glaring at him; even the shifted chameleon who managed to convey his own glare through strands of black hair. The green alligator was snarling, teeth bared menacingly and body glowing an eerie green while the snake itself was hissing at them threateningly; eyes glowing purple.

"Well, shit. Fire!"

Chaos followed.

But despite it all, the area around the girl was undisturbed. There wasn't a single stray shot, dust, absolutely nothing.

The surrounding area however, was a sudden war zone, where people were falling at alarmingly fast rates. Some due to quick but powerful punches from a flash of white, others due to the bite of a snake and the rest due to either a strong body slam or a bite from a large green alligator. Either way, the small army was soon entirely defeated by a trio of animals. Once the last man was down, the group circled around the room; seemingly to make sure that all of them were either unconscious or fully down for the count. After the last person had been nudged -and rather harshly at that- they circled back to the sofa, each taking their previous spots as the chameleon shifted back to curl on the girl's neck.

There was a small sleepy grumble as the girl shifted slightly in her sleep, arms tightening around the white monkey in her grasp. 4 pairs of eyes watched as the girl drifted back to sleep before they relaxed once more, resting their heads and closing their eyes to join her nap.

\----------------------------------------

"That was our last job until the New Year's right?" Collonello whined as he cracked his neck and massaged at his nape.

Leonora sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Yes Collonello, it is. I've told you this a thousand times, stop asking me or I'll find you more."

"Just making sure."

Reborn rolled his eyes and let out a quiet 'tch', striding towards the sitting room. He had always hated leaving the princess alone in the house but it was always either let her do it or no coffee for months. As much as he'd like to argue with her decision, he knew either way she would manage to get them to let her stay alone, so he'd always just gave up the fight. Besides this way he would get coffee as he did.

"Let's just hurry up, I'm coffee deprived and hungry; that's never a good combination."

The other 3 members shivered at the reminder of _that_ incident. Yeah, they'd rather it _not_ happen again anytime soon; at least not in their mansion.

"However, you must agree that it's rare for the house to be this empty." Aurelio stated, eyes taking in his entire surrounding carefully. "Normally, when we leave people make it as a personal goal to send in a group of men to snoop around the place. It's like a ritual now."

Collonello snickered, "The Winter Invasion; we could officiate it."

"Maybe we got lucky this year?" Leonora proposed, shrugging. "They could have gotten tired of doing it."

"You might have spoke too soon, Leonora." Came Reborn's amused yet exasperasted voice from ahead, the man stood in front of the open door allowing a small streak of light to shine through the dark hallway.

The rest of the group exchanged several glances before they sped up to stand behind the hitman each peering to see the room. Collonello doubled over in laughter as soon as he saw the sight in front of him, Aurelio was hiding his own amused smile amongst his sleeves as Leonora joined Collonello in his laughter.

"Best..security system..EVER." The blonde wheezed out between his laughter before he fell back to ground. Leonora was not much better, having to hold on to the wall to help steady her.

There laying scattered around the room was bodies of 20 men, some of them with weapons still gripped in their hands while some where piled up on the floor by the sofa's edge. Despite the horror movie-like scene, the room's occupants were relatively unharmed and evidently still asleep.

"Are they dead?" Aurelio questioned, nudging one of the bodies with the tip of his foot.

Reborn turned his head to look at the other man, "Not all of them I think, some are still breathing but some are not."

"This is what we get for agreeing to take care of Vivien's pet snake and Verde's pet alligator." Leonora sighed, "Well, I suppose that we were lucky that Mortale and Keiman was with us."

"No," Reborn retorted, " _this_ is what we get for leaving her to guard the house alone. We knew how bad her luck was with enemies."

As the members of the Arcobaleno talked through who would dispose of the bodies and clean the place, Anastasia slept on. Somehow before their arrival the girl's sleeping position had altered. She was now laying sideways; squished between the sofa and a large green alligator, Leon was curled up by her neck and Lichi; Aurelio's pet monkey was still cuddled in her hands. While Mortale, Vivien's snake was draped over the sofa's edges, her head coiled by the girl's head protectively even in sleep.

It would have made for a cute picture, it the animals that surrounded the girl wasn't quite so deadly.

"This won't stop them for long, and soon others will come searching through the place." Aurelio stated as he dumped yet another body outside ready to be disposed.

"Of course it won't. Some of them are just too stupid or too cocky, they'll just try again." Leonora muttered, before dialing a familiar number on her phone.

"They can try if they want." Reborn scoffed, fedora tilted slightly to expose one eye. "But they won't succeed, it's not like we're always away or that she's defenseless."

Collonello grinned, his teeth sharp and eyes gleaming dangerously. "But even if they managed to find their way in, then they'd come face to face with them."

The blonde had pointed a finger to the animals that surrounded their sleeping Meister. The 4 of them were now awake and were watching the group; their eyes glowing eeriely in the darkened room.

Reborn shook his head before making his way towards the girl, it was nearly dinner and she wouldn't sleep at night if she isn't awakened now.

'I suppose I can let her stay alone every once in a while, especially if Leon and the others are with her. I just hope that we won't be coming back to more dead bodies one day, it's becoming a pain to clean them up.'

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this story, if you like it please leave kudos and comments! \^.^/


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